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No major flooding occurred during the year, with the exception of the lower-lying areas bounding the Tangonge Lake, the lower: end of the Waihou Canal, and the lower portions along Puckevs Drain, which were under , water for considerable periods. A resurvey of the peat area is to be made. This will give an indication of the amount of further subsidence in the land to be expected in the future. The rainfall for the year ended 31st March was 54-35 in.; the wettest month was July, 1947, with a fall of 7-76 in., and the driest, February, with 1-33 in. Expenditure and Rates.—Maintenance expenditure charged against the Rate Account for the year, £2,282. Rates struck : Special, £2,741 ; general, £2,238. Rates collected, including arrears : Special, £2,031 ; general, £2,152. Rebates (33£ per cent.) allowed on special rates on account of prompt payment,. £623. Maori rates struck (gross) were £324. Of this amount, £lBl has been paid, and rebates allowable amount to £3l. Arrangements to pay a further sum of £93 were made on properties under the Mangonui Maori Development Scheme, and payment was received immediately following the close of the financial year. Hirurangi Drainage Area (50,000 Acres), Whangarei County No work was carried out in this area. Waihi Drainage Area (20,000 Acres), Tauranga County Only slight inroads have been made this year into the arrears of drain-maintenance work in this district. Two excavators have been used in the district this year. One was a larger Speeder drag-line hired from the Public Works Department for use on the lower Pongakawa River. This machine worked from 2nd July to Bth December and then broke down before completing the job and had to be returned to the Public Works Department for complete overhaul. The other plant was the small R.B. 10 purchased by the Department second-hand. Though extensively overhauled last year, this machine still gave a lot of trouble again this year and had to be laid up several times for repairs. It is too small for most of the work in this district, which involves the removal of considerable quantities of heavy timber from many of the drains. As mentioned above, a Speeder excavator was hired from the Public Works Department to improve the lower reaches of the Pongakawa River. This stream had silted up badly, and the sand and silt was removed by the excavator and placed on the right bank to be formed into a stop-bank at a later date. The machine started work on 2nd July and worked down-stream from the railway-line and made quite good progress until it broke down on the Bth December and had to be returned to the Public Works Department for overhaul. During the five months that it operated this plant completed 108 chains of the right bank of the Pongakawa Stream and removed 42,450 cubic yards of" spoil. No. 34 R.B. 10 excavator continued with the preliminary dredging of the Wharere Canal. This work was of an emergency nature only and was designed to reduce flooding in the canal. Most of the weed-growth and part of the accumulated silt and sand were removed. Work started at the railway-line in March, 1947, and proceeded down-stream. The work was completed on the 18th July, when 110 chains of the right bank and 10 chains of the left bank had been completed for the year under review, and 19,780 cubic yards oF spoil handled. The machine then made a start on the Wharere Road Drain, west side,, working south from Waerenga Road. This is one of the drains required for the new

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