THE WATER SUPPLY OF SYDNEY. CI. 
Botany was given in a report by Norman Selfe, m. inst. c.n, 
in 1880—which has no doubt been given to the members 
by that gentleman—so that it is not necessary to refer 
to them any further than that they performed their duty 
well, but were anything but economical as compared with 
later types of engines. 
Coming to the year 1902, which tested the capacity of 
the Nepean-Prospect system, owing to the long dry spell 
which occurred, the water level in the storage reservoir 
was drawn down to about 9 feet from gravitation level; as 
there was no prospect of the reservoir being repleted, the 
Board took action by installing a powerful pumping plant 
in duplicate, the capacity in the aggregate being 50 millions 
per day; other steps were taken to augment the supply at 
Menangle and Penrith—the latter was not brought into 
requisition—and the Prospect pumping plant was only 
required to work for a short time, as the reservoir com- 
menced to be repleted by copious rains on the watershed. 
The Prospect Dam has given trouble at different times, but 
owing to judicious weighting of the toe of the bank and 
careful attention to the dam, no fear of further movement 
is anticipated, although the water has been drawn down 
lower than 6 feet below top water level. The outcome of 
the Royal Commission of 1902 was the construction of the 
storage dam at Cataract. This has been described in the 
Chairman’s address, but I would like to state here that 
the consumers in the metropolitan area are indebted to the 
Chairman when President of the Water and Sewerage Board 
for his exertions in obtaining against many obstacles such 
a magnificent asset in connection with the metropolitan 
supply. The value of his advocacy for a high dam will be 
fully justified in the future, in maintaining a sufficient 
supply to the metropolis. The existence of the Cataract 
reservoir aS a means of storage during favourable rains 
