Victorian Water Supply

188 9. VICTORIA. VICTORIAN WATER SUPPLY. THIR.D 1\.NNU AL Gl~NERAL l1EP()RT BY THE SECRETARY FDH VVATEH SUP!)LY. PRESE~TED TO BOTH HOUSES CH' PARLIAMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY'S COMMAND. }!)!! ;3utborit!!: ROB'f. S. BRAIN, GOVERNMENT PRINT:I<;R, ~a;LJ~OURNE. No. 135-[16. 9d.J-15500. APPROXIliiATE COST OF REPORT. £ d rrepamtion-Not given. Printing (1,500 copies) •• £9000 REPOR~~ FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH JUNE, 1889. Victorian 'Vater Supply, Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, 1st September, 1889. The Ilonorabte Alfred Deakin, Minister if Water Supply, <$·c., c$·c., g.c. Sm, During the past twelve months steady progress has been made in furthering a number of the more important schemes of water supply that, at the date of my last Annual Report, were in their initiatory stages. Several new projects have also been examined, and a large amount of information gained, as to the possibility of profitable irrigation in districts that had not previously engaged attention. Much work has heen entailed in supervising the operations of constituted Trusts carrying out authorized schemes of works; while more than ordinary trouble has been experienced, during the year, in dealing with proposals for which formal sanction is being sought. Home of those submitted were found upon examination to involve expenditure not -warranted by probable revenue. In other cases difficulties in the way of satisfactorily appor tioning the waters of common sources of supply have caused delay. The olltaining of information as to the volumes discharged hy the rivers of the colony has heen actively continued, and chemical investigations made to ascertain the mnnurial vahws of the waters of several of the principal streams. Boring f(w water has likewise hePn proceeded with, but it is to be regretted that HO far the rPsult of the efforts made to discover useful subterranean supplies has not been commensurate with the outlay incurred. In treating separately of the various functions carried out hy the Depart ment, it will be convenient to adhere to the sequence adopted in previous annual reports. LEGISI.ATION. A short Act, containing only four sections, was passed at the close of the last session of Parliament. By section 1, lessees of land, having under their leases the right to purchase their leaseholds, were empo-wered to vote at elections of Commissioners of Irrigation and Water Supply Trusts. Section 2 requires candidates, upon being nominated at such elections, to deposit the sum of £10 \Yith the returning officer ; and provides, under conditions usual ii: such cases, for the forfeiture or refunding of the money. By section 3 the word" owner," as defined by section 2 of" 'The lrr(gation Act 1886," is for the purposes of that Act to he deemed to include the trustees of Agricultural Colleges. Section 4 deals with riparian rights, as regards rivers, streams, or 'vater courses affected by National works. The section, although narrowly restricted in its operation, is at present of importance, as being an instalment of necessary legislation upon a subject that should engage the early attention of Parliament. Its ohjett is to secure the uninterrupted transmission of water along natural water-courses, to pur chasers from National works. To this end the Governor in Council is given power to frame regulations for controlling the exercise of riparian rights, as regards the natural waters of the streams affected. The rights themselves, it should he observed, have been clearly recognised and protected by the enactment. It is also provided that regulations under the Act shall only be framed after the Chief Engineer of vVater Supply has reported in writing that they a.re, in each instance, rea:-;~nahly necessary. Taken as a whole the section will be found to confer a valuable authority, so far as it goes; but it will be evident that the investiture of the Board of Laud and 'Vorks with full control over the sources of supply to National works is likely to be of more importance than the questions involved in the transmission of water from them. AZ 4 It is strongly recommended that Parlinment he asked to give early consideration to the whole subject of the riparian law of the colony, to define the limits and extent of the respective rights of individual landowners, and of the State as representing the people ltt large. It is understood th:tt, at present, the riparian law of England, except in so far as it has been modified by local enactments, is the lnw of the colony. That it is utterly unsuited to our circmnstances need not he matter for surprise, when there are considered the vast differences in physical conditions and in climate between Gt·eat Britain and this colony. Nothing short of the absolute supercession of this portion of the English common lrtw, by a comprehensive enactment dealing with the whole subject, will meet the necessities of the case. Accrued rights may be fully conserved; but rights that were merely inchoate at the time of the passing of " The Irrigation Act 1886 '' should he finally and conclusively dealt with; and a ,way should be provided to ascertnin and declare, once for all, what the accrued rights really are. Unless the State be invested with fulJ power over nll natural sources of water supply, the Irrigation and Water Conservation Acts cannot be satisfhctorily administered, nor will it bo wise or prudent to invest money in some of the costly National works which have been asked for. The re-adjustment of liabilities between trusts, consequent upon alterations in boundaries, has disclosed some minor omissions in the \Vater Conservation and Irrigation Acts. These require to be supp1ied. Further legislation is also needed to enable Irrigation and Water Supply Trusts to administer, in certain cases, systems of works for the supply of urban areas. VICTORIAN \VATER SUPPLY WORKS. I.-CoLIBAN ScHEME. The financial results for the year of this scheme continued to be unsatisfl:wtory. Although the revenue (see Appendix No. 1) as compared with the collections tiuring 1887-8, has increased, an unprecedentedly heavy expenditure of £12,096, under the head of maintenance and management, more than counterbalances the increase. The capital account also has been debited with a further amount of £4,840, bringing the total cost of the works to date up to £1,069,~54. The heavy maintenance charges have reduced the net revenue for the year to £9,236, as compared with £12,200 for last year; and as a result, the percentage upon capital cost has been reduced from 1·146 to ·.863. The total charge for interest accrued during the year, at the rate of 4! per cent. upon capital cost, was £48,116; from which deducting the net revenue, £1:),236, leayes a deficiency of £38,880 to be made good from other sources. For the year 1887-8 the deficiency was £35,698. The extraordinary expenditure under the head of annual charges, referred to above, was necessitated by damage to the works fi·om floods, which occurred between the night of the 1st and morning of the 2nd of January of the current year. The rainfall over the whole colony, during the first week of January, was very heavy; along the line of the Coliban works it was quite unprecedented. The following is a tabular statement of the records at five of the principal stations, for the 24 hours ending on the morning of 2nd January, and for the week ending on that of 5th January- Rainf<tll, vV eek ending Station. Rainfall, J annary 1-2. January 5. Inches. Inches. Malmsbury Reservoir 6·87 9·52 Expedition Pass 6·50 8·71 Barker's Creek Reservoir 5·38 8·35 Sutton Grange... 6·86 10·09 Crusoe Heservoir 5·99 8·90 Expedition Pass Reservoir, like rnost of the service basins of the Coliban svstem of works, is supplied for the most part with water from Malmsbury, sent down by the channel. It has, however, a local catchment of about 5i square miles, from which limited area was discharged, on the afternoon of the 1st of January, an enormous volume of water, reaching at its maximum no less than 575,000 cubic feet per minute. It is almost superfluous to say that the flood escape of the reservoir was unequal to the discharge of more than a fraction of this quantity, and that it consequently overtopped the reservoir embankment, and seriously damaged it. That it did not carry away the embankment altogether, and thus, by releasing the stored water, add to the volume .of the flood and increase its devastating effect, is due solely to the solid and substantial 5 character of the work. The embankment has been re-instated, the flood-escape enlarged and strengthened, and the by-1varsh eleared of obstructions ; and the embankment, \rhich Imd become slightly depressed in the centre, hy ordinary subsidence of the mnteria ls of which it is built, has been cambered to tlJe extent of about 2 feet; so that should a flood again ocem·, beyond the capncity of the enlarged escape, the overflow and coHsequent erosion would commence at the ends, and the damage to the work and clang·er of'" catastrophe he minimized. Beside these re-instatements and improvements, ne~\· quarters lwse been built for the reservoir keeper, ·which were very much needed, and several minor amendments effected in the works. The whole has been debited to the year's maintenance account. The Crocodile Gully Dam, which is the pipe-lwad reservoir f()r the Fryerstown reticulation, was also seriously damaged, and extensive repairs had to he carried out there. Although the rainfall at Malmsbury 1vas very high in the beginning of January, that on the catchment of the Malmshury Reservoir, which comprises 112 square miles, doe8 not seem to have heen unusua1Iy heavy.

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