186 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



After the disastrous floods of 1846 and 1856 these basins were taken as 

 models for numerous projects, one of which was the estabhshment of eighty- 

 eight storage lakes of a similar kind on the Loire and its afEuents, proposed 

 by Mons. Comoy. One of these basins was commenced in 1861 on the 

 river Furens, an affluent of the Loire near St. Etienne, but before the 

 completion of the work its destiny was altered, and the water, which was 

 retained by a masonry dam 170 feet high, was applied as a motive force. 



The greater number of Italian engineers are not favourable to the plan 

 of storage basins. Signer Lombardiui, the famous hydraulic engineer, 

 remarks, with reference to the case of the Loire, that the basins proposed in 

 the valleys of that river would have cost £2,600,000 to store a mass of 

 water, the withdrawal of which from the supply would result in the lowering 

 at the point of juncture of the two streams, of the AUier by 2-3 feet, and of 

 the Loire by 3'3 feet, which is an insignificant result when compared with 

 the expenditure required to effect it. 



I have quoted these particulars regarding what has been done in the 

 matter of late years in Italy and the South of France, in order to show the 

 importance with which the subject is regarded where the rivers bear very 

 much the same character that they do in New Zealand. 



Before undertaking works of this nature here, we should as far as 

 possible reap the benefit of the extensive experience gained in the older 

 countries. Volumes could be filled with examples of the works that have 

 been undertaken with a view of regulating and controlling the floods in 

 rivers, and recording the results; a thorough study of the whole subject is, 

 however, the "only manner in which to understand the measures employed, 

 including if possible a personal examination of the works themselves. 



It may be said that though these European rivers bear somewhat 

 similar features to those in New Zealand, they differ sufficiently to require 

 a distinct mode of treatment. This is true of all rivers to a great extent, 

 as the slightest variation in the slope of their beds, the different nature of 

 the country through which they flow, the geological features of the mountains 

 in which they rise, and many other circumstances, render it necessary that 

 each should be considered sexoarately and treated differently. 



As previously mentioned, one method generally proposed for the 

 protection of river banks is by planting them, which in very many cases 

 means re-|)lanting them, as most rivers have been more or less wooded 

 originally. This method has been practised on some of the Alpine 

 tributaries of the Italian rivers, but I am not aware of the results. It 

 would be a most difficult plan to carry out successfully, and would 

 necessitate the purchase or reserving of the land for a considerable width 

 on both banks, and that it should be fenced in to protect the young trees 



