662 



NATURE 



{Oct. 24^ 1878 



in the Metropolitan District. It was, therefore, with great 

 pleasure that we saw that the President of the Me- 

 chanical Section of the British Association, Mr. Ed- 

 ward Easton, did so much to further the consideration 

 of the question by making it the subject of his open- 

 ing address at the recent Dublin meeting, and the num- 

 ber of papers by various well-known authorities that 

 followed on the different branches of the same subject, 

 with the discussions thereon, still more enhanced its 

 value. The scope of the whole question involves, as 

 well as the prevention of floods, the following considera- 

 tions, as pointed out by the President : — the supply 

 of pure and wholesome water for domestic and sani- 

 tary wants, the supply of water of proper quality and 

 sufficient quantity for industrial purposes, the proper 

 development of water power, land drainage, and irriga- 

 tion, navigation, and the preservation of fish. It has long 

 been found in most districts that many of these interests 

 arc mutually antagonistic, that the use of water for 

 manufacturing purposes and sanitary arrangements in- 

 terferes with the supply of pure water for domestic 

 purposes in the places lower down the stream ; that 

 the utilisation of water-power by the erection of mill- 

 dams and weirs impedes the passage of floods and renders 

 efficient land drainage more difficult, while on most 

 navigable rivers the navigation and drainage interests 

 seem to be constantly in opposition. Before two of the 

 Select Committees] referred to much useful information 

 was given by the different witnesses examined, but the 

 absence of discussion left much useful work to be done 

 at the Mechanical Section at Dublin. 



The facts most prominently brought forward and 

 the remedies advocated may now be considered. The 

 passage to the sea of the water falling as rain may 

 not only be too much retarded, causing loss to the 

 producing power of the country by submerging large 

 tracts of valuable land for a long period ; but it 

 may easily be too much accelerated, causing great 

 loss and inconvenience from drought in summer. Not- 

 withstanding the persistence of rainy weather, so much 

 complained of in our climate, most of our rivers would 

 sink to most insignificant dimensions were not some pro- 

 vision made for impounding the water in times of 

 drought. In the fen country admirable provision for 

 floods Avas made by the early Dutch engineers em- 

 ployed, who, finding the natural river channels, though 

 adapted for the ordinary flow, quite incapable of con- 

 taining the flood waters, raised banks a considerable 

 distance back from the natural bed of the river. Long 

 tracts of country were thus inclosed and formed into a 

 channel for the passage of flood waters ; and, had the 

 works been completed to the outfalls of the river, or 

 had those outfalls been artificially deepened and straight- 

 ened in those days to the extent they have since, there 

 is little doubt that the result would have been completely 

 satisfactory. As it is, with the extension of works at 

 the outfall of the rivers, rendered necessary by in- 

 creasing quantity and size of shipping, the original 

 works have been allowed to^ fall into decay, or have 

 t)een so altered by the erection of dams and sluices 

 as no longer to fulfil their original uses. What is re- 

 quired in these rivers, then, is to a great extent merely 

 to restore them to the state they were in when left by 



their original improvers, continuing the improvement of 

 the outfalls, and removing the shoals and other obstruc- 

 tions that have grown up since that time. To remove 

 the whole of the weirs and sluices would be to take away 

 almost ; the entire water supply, in time of drought, for 

 agricultural purposes. The weirs will therefore have to 

 be made movable, rendering it an easy matter to retain 

 the water supply in summer, while, by lifting the sluices 

 in good time, on the approach of floods, the channel will 

 be freed of all obstructions. In the case of all the rivers 

 considered — the Thames, the Severn, the Shannon, the 

 Great Ouse, Nene, Witham, and others — it was shown 

 that the channels had been suffering continued dete- 

 rioration from the formation of shoals and the growth 

 of weeds, and that the dams and weirs erected for the 

 maintenance of the water-level in dry weather were not 

 provided with sufficient sectional area for the flood dis- 

 charge. The engineering difficulties in the way of a 

 complete improvement of our principal rivers are not at 

 all insurmountable, but the legislation necessary has 

 proved abortive. Each river basin is cut up into a 

 number of drainage districts, formed under Acts of 

 Parliament obtained at various times, and wholly with- 

 out reference to each other. One district is unable to 

 obtain powers to make improvements in its portion of 

 the river without encountering a determined opposition 

 from the districts^below, who find that their works would 

 be imperilled by the alterations ; and thus a great propor- 

 tion of the cost of any improvements is spent in parlia- 

 mentary contests. There is now an almost general agree- 

 ment in the opinion that the difficulties in the management 

 of rivers are due to divided authority, and that the question 

 could be satisfactorily dealt with if entire river-basins 

 were placed under the control of one body of conser- 

 vators. The conclusion arrived at is that each river-basin 

 must be placed under the care of a single Conservancy 

 Board, who shall have to decide on and execute any 

 general scheme for the improvement of the river ; that 

 this Board shall consist of members chosen from the 

 various districts Boards, which would have the power of ex- 

 ecuting minor works in their own districts, not affecting 

 the general regime of the river, but subject at all times to 

 the control of the combined Board ; that the powers of 

 rating conferred on the combined Board shall extend 

 over the whole river basins, but that a special additional 

 rate shall be levied on those districts most directly 

 benefited by the improvements. 



It has been proposed, also, that a Central Board 

 should be established in the metropolis, presided over by 

 a Cabinet Minister, to which appeal from the decisions 

 of the various Conservancy Boards can be made, and 

 that this Central Board shall have powers analogous to 

 the Local Government Board, of issuing provisional 

 orders, to be subsequently confirmed by Act of Par- 

 liament, thus greatly diminishing the cost to the local 

 ratepayers of the improvements they desire. At the 

 conclusion of the Dublin meeting a recommendation was 

 made by the Mechanical Section that a Committee of 

 the British Association should be appointed to ascertain 

 what steps should be urged on Government to bring 

 about the undivided control of river basins in this country. 

 As it appears very uncertain what action Government 

 may take on the Reports of the Select Committees ot 



