9

H.—lsa

and the improvement for navigation-of long reaches of the Waikato River between Huntly and Mercer, which latter may be a problem of considerable difficulty and expense. The total length of the canal, following the present Mangawara Creek, would be about 27 miles from the Waikato River to the point of junction with the Piako River. This length might possibly be reduced by some 3 miles by discarding the present tortuous channel of the Mangawara and by cutting a more direct canal through the swamp lands. The construction of such a new channel would materially improve the navigation by eliminating the sharp bends in the creek, and if there is any probability that the canal might be constructed the matter ought to be carefully investigated before the works of the Mangawara River Board are proceeded with. If the proposed Orini cut in the Mangawara Creek be made, the length of the canal would, by that work alone, be shortened about lj miles, and by other works of straightening the creek the canal could be materially reduced in length and improved for navigation The upper reaches of the Mangawara, with its tributary the Waiti, would supply ample water to the topmost reach of the canal. The canal could be built with eight locks, of a lift of about 10 ft. each, on the Mangawara side, and with ten locks, of about 10 ft. 6 in. lift each, upon the Piako side. If borings show that the construction of a deep cut of about 80 ft. at its greatest depth is, owing to the presence of hard rock, likely to be costly, then it might be necessary to raise the level of the top reach of the canal by increasing the number of locks, and to pump the supply water for a few feet in height. The estimate is based upon the number of locks suggested above, and it includes a sum to cover the improvements in the Piako River that Mr. Thompson considers to be required to render it available for steamer traffic. On the assumption that the canal would be built with a width at the bottom of 30 ft., with side slopes of 1 to 1 and a water-depth of 8 ft., and having locks 150 ft. in clear length and 30 ft. in width, the estimated cost amounts to £983,000, which, being necessarily approximate, may be considered for the purpose of this inquiry as £1,000,000. Whilst we see no prospect of a sufficient revenue being derived for many years to come from such a canal, we believe that if and when the expenditure of a million of money is justified in connecting the Waikato coalfields and agricultural and producing districts with the sea, in view of the fact that the great bulk of the Waikato traffic has its source southwards of Huntly, it would be more safely spent in constructing a canal suited for the navigation of small steamers from the Waikato to the Piako than in any serious attempt to connect the Manukau Harbour, via Waiuku and the Waikato River, with the upper Waikato. We are reluctantly compelled to advise that the scheme of constructing a canal from the Waikato River by the Mangawara Valley to the Piako River is, at the present time, not economically desirable. Waikato River Navigation. As the question of the navigation of the Waikato River, with the attainment and maintenance of a summer channel sufficiently deep for boats of moderate draft, is intimately connected with the proposals for canal-construction, and is, in fact, largely the basis upon which depends the desirability or otherwise of the construction of the Waikato-Manukau connection, we have devoted considerable attention to the matter. In addition to the question of improving the river so as to permit of throughbarge communication with the Waitemata, there was placed in evidence before us the fact that if a satisfactory summer depth could be obtained throughout the Waikato River there would be developed to a considerable extent a traffic by small steamers and barges, throughout the whole navigable length of the Rivers Waikato and Waipa, with transhipment at Port Waikato to and from sea-going steamers of a size suitable to navigate over the Waikato and other west coast harbour bars. It was pointed out that hitherto it had been impossible to place the steamer trade upon a satisfactory basis owing to the uncertainty and delays arising during a large portion of the year from the shoal reaches of the river. We were strongly urged to make recommendations such as would afford as great and as early a relief as

2—H. 15a.