MURRAY RIVER SCHEME. 
course of the River Murray from its mouth to Kchuca, a distance 
of 1,066 miles, and the construction of nine weirs and locks in the 
Murrumbidgee River from its junction with the River Murray to Hay. 
The Commission will be the main controlling authority, although 
specific duties are allotted to the different States. For instance, the 
upper Murray storage, and the works between Echuca and Wentworth, 
will be constructed by the Governments of New South Wales and Vic- 
toria jointly and severally as may be mutually agreed upon by them. 
The works on the Murrumbidgee River will be constructed by the 
Government of New South Wales; the Lake Victoria storage, and the 
works on the River Murray below Wentworth, will be constructed by 
the Government of South Australia. The State Governments, however, 
must submit to the Commission for its approval designs and estimates 
of the work they propose to carry out, and the Commission’s approval 
is necessary before the work may be put in hand. Power is given to 
the Commission to decide the order in which the work shall be under- 
taken, the rate of progress of works, and the method and extent of 
maintenance works. Certain other powers, such as the making of regu- 
lations, prescribing tolls, the times for deliveries of water, and the 
quantities of water to be delivered, comes within the jurisdiction of 
the Commission. 
The upper Murray storage will contain 1,000,000 acre-feet of water. 
As the greater part of the land that will be submerged is of first class 
quality, many alternate schemes of conservation were considered, but 
it was found that there was no way out of the ditliculty. Investigation 
soon made it clear that the cost of building a number of small dams to 
obtain a storage equivalent to that at Mitta Mitta would be prohibitive, 
owing to the configuration and formation of the country. The site 
selected was one of 28 that were examined, and occurs at a place just 
below the junction of the Mitta Mitta River and the Murray. When 
~ completed, this dam will throw back a body of water covering an area 
of over 47 square miles, which is more than double the area of Syduey 
Harbor, and will be by far the largest sheet of fresh water in Australia. 
Of the 85 weirs and locks—26 of which are to be on the Murray 
between Echuca and Blanchtown, and 9 on the Murrumbidgee—one is 
already approaching completion. This lock is situated at Blanchtown, 
in South Australia, and the work was inaugurated by the State Govern- 
ment before the River Murray Waters Act came into operation. From 
Blanchtown to the sea, the river is navigable under natural conditions. 
Another large construction work has also been taken in hand at 
Torrumbarry, a few miles west of Echuca, and arrangements are well 
in hand for the commencement of the construction of a weir at Renmark, 
and another near Cobdogla, a settlement nearer to the mouth of -the 
Murray, in South Australia. The completion of the weir at Cobdogla 
will insure an adequate supply of water for many important irrigation 
settlements, some of which are now being prepared. The water will 
be dammed up and turned into Lake Bonney, which, when full, will 
have an average depth of about 12 feet, and an area of about 16 miles 
in one direction, and 3 or 4 miles in another. a 
The Torrumbarry weir will immediately serve an important purpose. 
At the present time, there are large areas in Victoria extending from 
C.9946—4. 353 
