WATER CONSERVATION, IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE IN N.S.W. 239 



which flows off on the north side of the river about seven miles 

 below Narandera, there is a fairly good site for a weir. From 

 this place a canal can be taken off and carried through the plains 

 extending to Oxley, with branches extending in a south-westerly 

 direction to the neighbourhood of Carrathool, Hay, and Maude, 

 and north-westerly to near Booligal. These plains are similar in 

 their regularity and general character to those south of the Mur- 

 rumbidgee, and there is no reason why the water should not be 

 delivered throughout them at an equally low rate of cost. 



Rights of the lower landholders. — The question of the construc- 

 tion of large works for water conservation and irrigation on the 

 Murrumbidgee is much more complicated than might at first sight 

 appear. There are extensive properties, chiefly below Hay, which 

 depend very largely on the overflow of the river. This overflow 

 naturally irrigates several hundred thousand acres, besides filling 

 creeks and depressions. A difference of a few inches in the height 

 of the river may mean a difference of many thousand acres in the 

 area flooded. Considering that land which has been flooded will 

 carry from one up to four sheep per acre, while the same land 

 without flooding requires from five to ten acres for every sheep, 

 it is not surprising that those who own such lands view with 

 disfavour any scheme which will interfere with the waters above 

 their properties. Neither is it surprising that they regard with 

 distrust the operation of the two most important outflow channels, 

 namely, Cudgel Creek on the north side of the river, and Yanko 

 Creek on the south side. The objections of the lower holders 

 have not hitherto received the attention they deserve, and while 

 it is intended here to advocate the better utilisation of the Mur- 

 rumbidgee, and to indicate some ways in which this can be done, 

 it is not intended that this should be done to the detriment of the 

 lower holders, or that their rights should in any degree be over- 

 looked. 



Objection to dealing piecemeal with our rivers. — It is unsatis- 

 factory, especially in a country such as this, to deal piecemeal 

 with the waters of any of our western rivers, but it is often 



