142 REPORT—1874. 
long, which leaves the river at a point 10 feet higher than the top level of 
the reservoir,and three miles from its source on the Butter Mountain, There 
are stop-sluices at the head or intake of the feeder to turn the water back 
into the river when the reservoir is full, Another feeder from the Money- 
scalp river supplies to the reservoir about one fourth the quantity derived 
from the Muddock, and is also supplied with stop-sluices. This Moneyscalp 
riyer runs to the sea at Newcastle. The whole rainfall gathering-ground of 
Lough Island Reavy, including the lake itself, is about five square miles. 
The water from the pipes for the supply of the mills is delivered into an open 
conduit, which is about one mile long, and joins the Muddock again about a 
mile below the intake. 
The river Muddock is one of the most important branches of the Bann ; it 
rises about 1200 feet above the top water-level of the reservoir, and conse- 
quently falls nearly 400 feet per mile above the intake of the feeder. For 
three miles below the reservoir the fall is about 40 feet per mile, and from 
that to its confluence with the river Bann (which is also three miles) the fall 
is only 3 feet per mile. This last three miles of the river Muddock has been 
a source of great trouble and expense to the Bann Reservoir Company, as it 
is not only sluggish in its flow, but exceedingly tortuous, and consequently 
continually silting-up. There is a difficulty in point of law as to whether 
the riparian owners or the Reservoir Company should clean the river. This 
question is at present being argued. The Reservoir Company did clean out 
the river sixteen years ago, when they were in fault in not putting down the 
sluices at the intake of the Moneyscalp feeder when the reservoir was full ; 
consequently in time of flood water flowed down the old Muddock river 
which had never done so before the formation of the reservoir; and the Com- 
pany were held responsible under an arbitration and recommended to scour 
the river. As they had no power over the banks of the stream, they were 
obliged to pay large sums to the farmers for their use, and also for throwing 
out on and remoying from them the scourings and weeds, although by the 
construction of the reservoir floods are caught which previously overflowed 
these low lands for the greater part of the year. Since then some of the 
banks have fallen in, and the weeds have increased so much as to form 
with the siltings a serious obstruction to the discharge of sufficient water 
for the mill supply, which in some places makes its way up the side drains, 
and (where the back drains are not attended to) overflows grounds lower 
than the banks; and actions have been taken against the Company. The 
banks also are low—indeed, for this three miles of the Muddock’s course, 
under the level to which floods sometimes rise in the Bann at its mouth; 
consequently these floods make their way back and overflow to a great depth 
large tracts of low land on each side. The outlet is through a narrow bridge, 
and so, augmented by the Muddock’s own floods, they are prevented from 
running off rapidly and thus injure these lands, for which the Bann Reseryoir 
Company were obliged to pay damages. 
There is a great obstruction to the flow of the Bann at its confluence with 
the Muddock, which if removed, and the channel of the Muddock altered for 
about fifty yards, so as to flow with instead of against the stream of the 
Bann, the Bann also widened and deepened for a short distance, and the nar- 
row Muddock bridge referred to aboye widened and deepened, the floods of 
the Bann might in a great measure be prevented from interfering with the 
Muddock, and the drainage of the Muddock itself much improved. The 
“Reservoir Company were at that time willing to unite with the proprietors 
of the land in carrying out this improvement, but the latter were not willing 
