INTERCOLONIAL WATER RIGHTS AS AFFECTED BY FEDERATION. 243 



As regards the storage of water on the higher part of the catch- 

 ment of the Mclntyre, this question is in practically the same 

 stage as in the case of the Macquarie and the Gwydir. If a 

 satisfactory site for a reservoir be obtained, the management of 

 the storage water while requiring care and discrimination should 

 be less likely to give rise to objections than in the case of the 

 Namoi. There are, however, natural facilities for the diversion 

 of water from the Mclntyre River, particularly through the 

 Whalan Creek — and when these facilities are availed of, questions 

 of some difficulty may be expected to arise. 



It may be mentioned here that, as was pointed out many years 

 ago by Mr. Oliver, President of the Land Court, when a question 

 involving water-rights was under inquiry, the Mclntyre River is 

 not a boundary in the same sense as the river Murray. In the 

 case of the latter it was specially laid down in the Constitution 

 Act, that the boundary of New South Wales is on the south bank 

 of that river. As regards the length through which the Mclntyre 

 is a boundary of this colony, no exact definition of the boundary 

 was given, and on this account it must be taken as following the 

 middle of the river. 



Extending through the Western Division of New South Wales 

 from Queensland on the north, to Victoria on the south, and pro- 

 viding in high floods a navigable channel about 1,300 miles in 

 length, the river Darling presents several difficult problems in 

 connection with its management and utilisation. Of the total 

 catchment area of 256,400 square miles, not more than 105,500 

 square miles can be classed as in any degree effective, or in other 

 words, more than seven-twelfths of the whole area contributes 

 nothing to the discharge. Not only so, but the streams from the 

 more or less effective portions of the catchment flow in many 

 channels and for long distances through the dry plains of the non- 

 contributing area. It naturally follows that under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, only a very small proportion of the rainfall ever 

 reaches the main river. 



