D.—la.

It should be possible by building a dam to conserve the water and to raise the lake-level a height of say 60 ft —30 ft to be used for storage and the remainder to give additional head and perhaps thereby facilitate the construction of the conduit. Somewhat over 100,000 b.h.p. can be got at the power-station at the point on the river above described. The works would be very costly, and no survey having been made, it is not possible to give any approximate estimate. A dam could be built across the Ohau at the rock gorge where the road-bridge is built. Its extreme height having regard for the safety of the terraces on each side, would be, say, 75 ft., but to give due provision for flood-water passing, the low-water level should not be raised more than 60 ft. to 65 ft. A power-station could be built a short distance below the bridge, where about 30,000 b.h.p., at most, would be available. The dam would cost £175,000. The conduit could be taken to any further distance down the river which might be deemed desirable. There would be some apparently open ground to be crossed, where there might be danger of loss of water through the shingle. A survey would be required before any further statement could be made as to the value of this proposal. A considerable addition to the power available at the bridge would be got, but at a very considerable addition to the ' Below the junction of the three streams from the lakes, the Waitaki continues to flow over a wide shingle bed for about eight miles ; then the hills close in, and at about ten miles down a dam might be built to utilise the water. Further down stream at the Goose Neck, about one mile m a straight line above the junction of the Ahuriri River, a dam could be built, or at the best place in the bend. There can be no very great fall in the river here, and only the height due to the dam would be available, whatever it might be. The fall in the river is too slight to justify any attempt to carry the water any distance beyond the dam by tunnels. The low-water flow of the river might be taken as 15,000 cubic feet per second at this point. The flood-rise would begin to be felt here in damming back water against the turbines. A dam about 90 ft. above low-water level should easily give 100,000 b.h.p. The Waitaki might also be dammed a few miles above Kurow, but I did not ascertain to what height, as this would be one of the last projects likely to be attempted. Ahueiei Rivee. There should be a considerable fall obtainable by taking a race from the Ahuriri River at the commencement of the gorge just below the junction of the Otamatapaio or Gala River with the Ahuriri. The race would go in a tunnel, if necessary, through the neck, about a mile above the junction of the Ahuriri and then through a short tunnel through a neck between the Ahuriri and the Waitaki to a power-station on the banks of the Waitaki. The total length of race would be about five miles. The fall obtainable might amount to about 200 ft. The drainage-area of the Ahuriri above the race intake is 620 square miles. The river is said to run low in the summer, but as the head-waters rise in very high country I am inclined to think there must always be a very considerable flow of water m it, sufficient torsive, at the very least, 5,000 or 6,000 b.h.p. When I saw the river in November last there was water enough in it to give four or five times this amount of power. A little storage might be got, enough to conserve the low-water flow for the hours not worked in a week. The power-station would be in an easily accessible position, being about two miles and a half from the mam road, with ground easy to travel over between. The distance from Kurow is twenty-one miles. This would be an excellent location for a power-station for a light electric line from Kurow to Pukaki Lake and Hermitage. Deep Stream. An examination has been made of this stream to a point twenty-two miles above its junction with the Taieri The heio-ht of the Taieri at this point above railway datum is 294 ft., and at the twentytwo miles the Deep D Stream attains an elevation of 1,210 ft. The best point to take the water from the stream may be just above the traffic bridge. The river for five miles above this point has only a rise of 40 ft." The minimum flow at the twenty-two-mile point was taken to be 90 cubic feet per second The drainage-area above this is seventy-seven square miles. Above the traffic bridge the drainage-area is 101 square miles. The minimum, flow should therefore be somewhat greater—about 110 cubic feet. Supposing a dam were built at this point, say 40 ft. high, water would be stored m a length of about five miles of the river-channel. The width, however, would not be great. It is advisable to locate a race as high as possible, to keep clear of the precipitous gorge near the Taieri. Raising the level by a dam would help this, and also making the race on a flat grade. The power obtainable at the power-station would be 7,000 b.p.h. continuous working, or 14,000 for twelve hours, so far as the information at present goes. The power-station would be quite near the Deep Stream Railwaystation. Taieei River. This river was gauged in November last year at a point about a mile below the Sutton junction. The flow was found to be 1,094 cubic feet per "second. The drainage-area of the river above this point is about 1,260 square miles. The corresponding minimum flow of the river is put at about 700 cubic feet per second. By taking a race from the Sutton to the Deep Stream—a distance of 141 miles— a. fall of about 220 ft, effective head would be got, This would give about 14,000 b.h.p. at the powerstation. The length of the race would make the cost of the hydraulic part of the scheme somewhat costly whether the water is taken in whole or in part only. It is possible to store water in some of the' upper tributaries of the Taieri. Two dams proposed to be built in the Taieri Floods Commissioners' report in 1877 were estimated to store 4,200,000,000 cubic, feet, at a cost of £66,000. One of the possibilities, the Taieri Lake, could only be partly utilised now, owing to the level at which the railway has been constructed, but possibly further supplementary storage could be found. It is possible that the reservoir on the Kyeburn basin would not always be filled in years of low rainfall, and without

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