94 BREEDE RHEK IRRIGATION WORKS. 



tramway and trollies. Speaking about the weir across the Breede 

 River at the head of the canal, Mr. Gordon said in his report : — 



" The design is certainly a remarkably cheap one ; but so far the work has 

 acted efficiently and I see no reason why it should not continue to do so, if it is 

 carefully watched and promptly re])aired shf)uld the necessity arise." 



The Board decided that the scheme should be carried out without 

 the aid of a contractor, and they were at all times willing to ])rovide 

 what plant was required for carrying along the work with economy 

 — including 3I miles of tramway, 18" gauge. 



The Irrigation Canal. 



The canal crosses at right angles and along the foot of the drainage 

 area, an intricate piece of country along which to carry the water, 

 situated at the foot of the slopes of the Langeberg range of moun- 

 tains. This route was described by Sir Wm. Wilcox when he 

 visited the Breede Valley as a " difficult alignment "; and the drain- 

 age crossings to pass the flood waters flowing off the mountain 

 slopes proved to be difficult and costly. During the construction 

 of the canal, in February, 1902, there was a heavy rainfall in the 

 mountain, and damage was caused to the new canal works to the 

 extent of £2,000 before the works in an incomplete state had 

 adapted themselves to the altered conditions. This was a severe 

 blow to the Board, and at the time, and for some months afterwards, 

 all hands were engaged repairing the damage. In April, 1904, the 

 works were entirely finished, and the canal has been available for 

 irrigation purposes ever since, with only one break ; that was when 

 a severe flood completely washed away the aqueduct at the Hoops 

 River. The river bed there had originally been 15 feet wide, after 

 the flood it was scoi^red to a Mddth of 60 feet ; therefore it was 

 decided to cross this river by means of a siphon in place of an 

 aqueduct. This siphon is now in working order and gives entire 

 satisfaction. 



Distribution of Water. 



Some method had to be devised for an equitable distributicMi of 

 the water in the canal amongst the various shareholders, each 

 holding a different area of irrigable land. In the first instance the 

 canal was divided into two sections for the division of the water, 

 the upper half of the shareholders taking the whole of the water one 

 week, and the lower half the following week. This division proved 

 unwieldy and wasteful ; for the streams were too strong to be 

 handled economically upon the farms. 



The present division is made by twelve continuous streams being 

 taken from the canal at various points along its length of 2i| miles. 

 The canal is divided into twelve sections, and iff each section only 

 one sluice is to be opened at one time. In each of the twelve 

 sections all the sluices are of one size ; but the sizes of the sluices 

 increase in dimensions in each section as one proceeds down the 

 canal, so as to pass a like volume of water under a diminished 

 head. The shareholders in each section form a Committee who 

 control and divide their one-twelfth of the water forming their 

 share. 



