The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1884. RIVER CONSERVATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1784, 10 September 1884, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1884. RIVER CONSERVATION.

It has been suggested that a Board of River Conservators should be formed to protect Maßterton from the Waipoua. :The main objections to such a proposal are: Ist, the creation of % new rating district, and 2nd, the possibility of money being wasted in experimental protective works. We are disposed to believe that it would be more economical if the Borough Council with, the consent of the ratepayers undertook the work of protecting the'town. We believe that a sum of about £SO a year would be ample' to keep the river free from occasional obstructions, and also to-plant and maintain tho cheapest and most effective of all protective works, viz,, willow trees. We do not believe that if the members of the Borough Council were willing to undertake a duty of this character they would find any difficulty in obtaining the support and co-operation of settlers whose lands lay adjacent to the river, or in securing the co-operation of the County, and Road Board, local bodies which have a more or less direct interest in the stream and some legal control over it. We would sooner see a Board of Conservators appointed than that no effort should be made to protect the town from devastation by floods, but it is evident that a special organisation of this kind would be expensive to administer, whereas the local body in the immediate neighborhood with permanent officers and a convenient working staff, could do all that was required to be done at a minimum cost. A new rating district for riyer works would bo somewhat difficult to define, and auy proposal for a new rate always excites hostility. It is clear that something must be done, and while the dread of the flood still lingers amongst us, it would be well if the best method of controlling the river so as to avoid the future recurrence of a similar disaster could be carefully thought out.