9

D.—6d

be placed in such jeopardy that it would involve the expense of removing the whole of their buildings and other improvements to a new location behind the new levee. The opinion was expressed that if the railway-line, or a line adjacent to it, were adopted for the levee little or no compensation would be demanded by the owners thereby left outside the protection, provided their land was withdrawn from the Drainage and River Board area and they were relieved from the payment of further rates. Which of these alternatives should be adopted depends, firstly, on the attitude of the Railway Department, and, secondly, on the question as to which is the more economical. Before an absolute decision can be reached it will be necessary to canvass the owners to ascertain from them and obtain in writing a statement of the compensation which they would claim under each of the alternatives. Secondly, it would be necessary to make definite surveys of the proposals for raising the railway-bank and for the levees in each of the alternative positions. If the Railway Department will agree to the raising of the railway and its adoption as the levee, and the owners of the land between the railway and the river will confirm the verbal statement re non-claiming of compensation, then the first alternative should be adopted, even though it should be somewhat more expensive in first cost, because the combined levee and railway-bank would be under constant careful supervision, and would therefore have a better chance of being in first-class order when a flood occurred. Whichever alignment is taken for the levee, your Commissioners consider that the controlling authority should, if claims for compensation are made, acquire all the land, lying between it and the river. This would extinguish all claims for damages ; and no doubt the Board will be able to lease the land, probably to the present occupiers, at such a figure as would return reasonable interest on the investment. If, however, the large capital outlay for land-purchase which would be required is likely to jeopardize the carrying-out of the whole scheme, then the only other alternative is to enact such legislation as will give the controlling authority full power to prevent any landowner doing or erecting anything which would obstruct the free flow of flood-waters over the land in question. (d.) When the levee at Allanton is shifted back the present bridge approach must be reduced to ordinary ground-level and the road graded up over the levee in its new position., so as to leave the necessary waterway ; or, alternatively, the bridge must be increased in length so as to span the whole channel. The extension of the latter would not, in the opinion of your Commissioners, be warranted, as the loss due to the shutting-off of access would not be equal to the continual interest and maintenance charges on the increased length of the bridge. (e.) The railway-bridge at Otokia must be lengthened by an addition of 840 ft. on its southern end, and all the embankment, including the stone protection, which would be rendered unnecessary by the erection of this extension, must be removed down to ground-level. The levees when fixed in their new alignment must connect with the abutment of this bridge, which should be strongly protected by rock against scour. Although the Otokia Traffic-bridge and the Henley Traffic-bridge are totally inadequate, yet under the scheme for the removal of the embankment at the latter, and in view of the fact that at the former the flood-waters have an unrestricted passage over the railway and the land lying between the bank of the river and the Main South Road, the extension of these bridges is not necessary. (/.) From the point previously mentioned, where the railway would cease to be the levee, or, alternatively, where the new levee would cross the railway at Bull Creek, a new levee should be erected running along the eastern side of Bull Creek, thence along the western boundaries of Section 34, and on to connect on a practically straight alignment with the Henley-Berwick Road. From the point of connection with the Henley-Berwick Road this levee should follow the said road until it links up with the system of banking in connect'on with the Waipori Stream and contour channel to be referred to later. The whole of this bank should be ra'sed bo a crest-level of 10 on the datum adopted by the Western Taieri Land Drainage Board, which is approximately low water, spring tides. This will necessitate a bank 8 ft. high in places, but averaging considerably less than this. One of the

2—D. 6d.