LVI. E. K. SCOTT. 
Value of Water.—Since the proposal of Messrs. Coane 
and the writer was placed before the Government a dis- ° 
tinguished American expert on irrigation, Mr. Klwood Mead, 
has been appointed Chairman of State Rivers and Water 
Supply, and he has stated that the construction of the dam 
at Trawool will enable 750,000 acres to be irrigated against 
the 50,000 which can be irrigated at present, and he gives 
the annual value of the Goulburn River for use in irrigation 
when Trawool is completed, at not less than £375,000 per 
annum. Inaddition there would be much better regulation 
of the river in time of flood. Regarding the power side of 
the proposition he says that :— 
“10,000 HP. can be generated continuously, and 20,000 HP. 
for perhaps six months in the year without the loss of one gallon 
of water for use in irrigation. ..... During the six irrigation 
months all the water needed to generate 10,000 HP. can be stored 
in Waranga Basin and drawn from there in the succeeding summer 
months. He estimates the value of the electric power at £50,000 
per annum.” 
He has informed the writer that the above estimate of 
the values of power was based on a 24 hours run, and the 
price at which it could probably be marketed in the mines 
of Bendigo and at Melbourne. If transmitted to these 
centres a good deal of the power would not be used right 
through the 24 hours, and so the figures for maximum 
horse power output from the dam might be increased. In 
any case, however, arevenue of £50,000 will goa fair way 
towards reducing the cost of irrigation water tothe far- 
mers, and this is a most important matter if irrigation is 
to be successful. 
It will be evident from the above figures that water 
stored on a large scale is almost as good as a gold reserve 
in the bank, and the writer considers that the community 
is greatly indebted to those who first showed how such 
