ENCROACHMENT OF WATER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3857, 14 July 1891, Page 2

ENCROACHMENT OF WATER.

Action for Damages- ( Taylor v Renall. On resuming at two o'clock : e S. E. Gapper was cross-examined and re-examined at some length. 1 This was the case for the plaintiff. 1 For the defence, Phillip M. Reynolds, builder and contractor, de- J posed : I was employ id last year to j do certain work for Mr Renal lat the Waipou<v river. My instructions were to strengthen a weir which was in the ( riyer, and I put in a tier of piles. I subsequently put in a second tier of ( piles. The river was not affected by | the driving of the piles- The work is , incomplete. The drain backed the i water to some extent and created a ' still water. I bare had some experi- ' ence in protective works, and consider the banks of Mr Renall'a property < were protected by the dam, which pre- ( venied a scour. I know Mr Renall'a ' water race, but cannot say if it is artificial. When the river is in flood ] the surplas water will run into the • by wash. The amount of water would , not be increased in the race, excepting by the impetus given by the flood. I The sluice gates have a capacity of eight superficial feet. The amount of water parsing through the gates could be stopped. By Mr Beard: There were iron stakes in the river when I strengthened the weir. The object of the weir was to drive the water down the mill lead. I made the structure more permanent than it was before. There is not as much water now in the race as when I went to it. If the river was in flood and the sluice gates were opened it would not flood Taylor's property. I have never been up the race to Tayler's property. Jcbn Cummingß deposed: I was employed by Mr Renall to do some work to the College Creek in January last. I started at the junction of the mill lead and cleared the water cress out and widened it on Tayler's side of the fence. I looked np Tayler's creek and found a quantity of water cress there. After cleaning the creek, the water fell fifteen inches. By Mr Beard : Before I cleaned out the College Creek the water in the race was pretty high. I could not say if Tayler's land was wet or dry. There were pools of water lying in Malcahy's land. By Mr Bunny: I cannot say where the water on Mulcahy's land came from. Patrick Mulcahy deposed to having rented a paddock from Mr Renall through which the mill lead ran. He knew Tayler's property, adjoining. His propercy was good, but was generally wet. It was very low. He had only seen the water overflow in the race in one place, and that was atthe old swamp He had helped Cummings to widen the lead. There was a gorse fence between his property and Tayler's During his tenancy the gorse had been burned by Tayler. There had been some cows running on Taylei's property this year. He bad put in two crops of potatoes himself, each of which had rotted through the excess of water. . The past season had been 1 a wet one. Had it been dry he would in all probability have had a good crop. By Kr Beard : He had dug down ' in his paddock and found no water. 1 He had found water at the bottom of his potatoes. He could not say whether it was the soakage from Renall's creek. He bad never told Tayler that he would not continue to rent the land on account of the 1 water. He was still a tenant of Mr i Renall. John Kite, sworn, stated that he had been engaged in March last to ' clear out College creek, which was full of logs and watercress. This i would damn the water back. When 1 he leL work the water went down eight or nine inches. By Mr Beard : He was working ia the stream where it ran through other peoples' property, and not through Mr Renall's. 1 At this stage the Court adjourned till next day. TUESDAY. . Henry Bentley deposed to knowing the property of Tayler and believed it ; to have been always a swamp. He I was surprised at any person going on to it. C. E. Bremner, engineer, deposed : ■ lam a duly qualified-engineer. The i qualifications of a land surveyor • embody the neeessary qualifications ' for taking levels and such like. The plan submitted inoludes the levels • of the water and surface of the i ground. The plan shows an old dreek I bed, where the river has apparently enoroaehed. I know the mill lead, ' whioh is 8} chains from the Waipoua ' river. A weir is shown, whioh , intercepts the courae of the river. At the weir tha water is comparatively shallow, caused by the silt. This would prevent the water scouring up ' to that level. The surplus water not I required in the mill stream would go i down the by»wash. In my opinion • the dam at the entranoe to the mill ' lead is quite unnecessary, as the bank I of the river diverts the water. The ■ dam at tbe mouth of the race has r evidently been erected to proteot the > flax mill. If the dam was I not there the flax mill property would I in all probability disappear. A sluice , gate was erected, which could regui late and entirely stop the discharge through the channel. The gate would answer the purpose for which it was required. The land on both : sides of tbe lead is low lying, and is of a marshy character. I had six > shafts sunk; all on Mr Renall's land, f three of which were immediately ) along the line of the lead, and three I at a distance of four and a half chains : parallel with the line of the lead, [ which showed nine inches of good i soil, about ten inches of blue tenacious i day, and below that sandy clay. i This showed a soil resting upon a • sub-stratum of tenaoious, impervious ; olay. There were no indications of . soakage in tbe shafts sunk until i reaching nineteen inches below the i surface. I judge this to be the nature of tbe land generally in tbe i locality. On Tayler's property is a raupo swamp, whioh is being fed from springs or other source. Ido not think tbe mill lead has any effect upon the adjoining land. The nature of tbe soil and the depth of water would not permit of the land being drained. If I wished to drain tbe land I would drain it into the College Creek. My opinion ia that if the flow of water in the mill lead was stopped the land would be in just the same condition as it is now. The College Creek is full of obstructions, whioh retarded tbe flow of the water and silted the bed. I saw indications of market gardenipg on Tayler's property, and found the vegetables, with the exception of one particular lot, remarkably healthy. The witness was being cross-ex-amined by Mr Beard when the Court adjourned till two o'clock,