Artnur.—On the Taiert River Floods. 95 
finally the practicability of utilizing such natural sites as exist for the 
storage of flood waters, but which have not yet been surveyed and reported 
on. A tolerably intimate knowledge of the basin of the Taieri River above 
Outram, and of that of the Waipori River, has satisfied me that certain flats 
on the banks of these rivers offer very excellent facilities for the construc- 
tion of dams capable of impounding the most of the flood waters, and that 
ati much less cost than is usually supposed. The expenditure of about 
£200 on a survey would settle definitely this question, and the money 
would be well spent. 
Floods on the Taieri River have been reported on, or written about, by 
Mr. J. T. Thomson, 0.E., Mr. G. M. Barr, 0.E.; Messrs. Blair, Bell, and 
Higginson, M.I.C.E. (Flood Commissioners), and Mr. E. B. Cargill. Their 
estimated discharges of the river and its tributaries differ somewhat, as well 
as the remedies propounded; and as to the scheme of the Flood C issi ‘ 
its cost has been fatal, apparently, to its early realization. I propose, 
therefore, to give you a few facts in support of my statement that the Taieri 
floods are capable of being checked, if not entirely reduced to manageable 
limits, by reservoirs, and that at a very moderate expenditure. 
: Rain Storms. 
The opinion that the Taieri floods are due to the sudden melting of snow, 
caused by warm north-west winds, with or without rain, is erroneous. For, 
first, in the case of the gathering ground of the snow-fed rivers of Otago— 
the Waitaki, Clutha, Oreti, and Waiau rivers—the greater part of the snow 
lies above the 4000 feet level, while the mountains which discharge the 
greatest amount of water into the Taieri—yiz., the Rough Ridge, Lammer- 
law, and Rock and Pillar Ranges—do not exceed 8800 fect in altitude (in 
round numbers), with the exception of about 8000 acres on the Rock and 
Pillar. The snow is generally off the latter mountains by the middle of 
November, and this season, while I write (October), there is little or none; 
and the Taieri floods, particularly the most destructive, do not generally 
occur while snow is on the highest catchment ground, that is, in winter. 
The worst flood of all, that of 1868, occurred in the beginning of February. 
Lastly, the heaviest floods have been consequent on rain-storms from east 
to south-west. This range of direction does not bring warm rain; that 
comes from north-west; but the storms blow well home, and as they reach 
the Upper Taieri Plains keep pretty steady at south-east. My own notes on 
the weather, made while living on these plains during 1867-68, and 1869, show 
this to be correct. It is corroborated by the experience of settlers living 
there, and the meteorological observations taken at Dunedin for the same 
period are confirmatory. That is the first circumstance to be kept in view 
in ascertaining the distribution and effects of the rainfall, 
