- Title
- A history of the Murrumbidgee irrigation area
- Creator
- Cowper, Walter Richard
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 1968
- Description
- Masters Research - Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
- Description
- The possibility of irrigating the country lying between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers was first considered by H.G. McKinney, an Irrigation Engineer with the British Government in India, who visited Kooba (Cuba) station in 1875. McKinney resigned from the Indian Civil Service and returned to New South Wales, and in 1884 he was appointed Engineer to the Royal Commission on Water Conservation. He put forward several proposals for irrigation canals from the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers, and in 1891 he prepared plans and carried out surveys for a Northern Murrumbidgee Canal. In 1897 a plan for a canal from the south bank was prepared by McKinney, and Colonel Home, an authority on irrigation brought to this country from India by the Government, to advise on irrigation prospects, recommended that it be carried out. In 1900, McKinney resigned from the Department of Public Works, as he saw little hope of the Government carrying out any irrigation scheme. With Robert Gibson, he sought authority in 1902 from the Government to carry out the Northern Murrumbidgee Canal and the Barren Jack Dam by private enterprise. This was not granted because of the opposition from all political parties, the Farmers' and Settlers' Association and the Graziers' Association. In addition, the Government was strongly influenced by expert opinion from the United State of America, for in 1901 the Federal Government of the U.S.A. had decided that the Federal Government alone should carry out irrigation works, and they were about to embark upon extensive Federal irrigation schemes in the U.S.A.. In 1905 L.A.B. Wade, successor to McKinney as Chief Engineer for Irrigation, presented a revised plan of McKinney's Northern Murrumbidgee Canal scheme to the Minister, which the Government now said that it intended to carry out. An Act authorising the construction of the dam and canal was passed in 1907, and the Minister for Works, C.A. Lee, said that a Bill dealing with policy and management would be introduced during the next Session of Parliament, but this was not done. In 1910 the Barren Jack Scandals resulted in the resumption of the North Yanco Estate of Sir Samuel McCaughey, and possibly contributed to the defeat of the Wade Government. The scheme as implemented by the first Labour Government in New South Wales differed in many essential respects from the original proposal, instead of selling land at Mirrool to meet costs, the tenure was made leasehold, and a much greater area was resumed. The Wade Government and succeeding Governments failed to give the administration of the scheme proper consideration, and for many years the M.I.A. was a scene of bitter conflict. In 1926, some steps were taken by a Labour Government to put matters right, and in 1932 the Stevens Government carried out an investigation and further remedial action was taken. At about the same period, other conditions changed and the M.I.A. progressed until today it is a prosperous and progressive community.
- Subject
- Murrumbidgee; Murrumbidgee irrigation area; irrigation canals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1312449
- Identifier
- uon:22392
- Rights
- Copyright 1968 Walter Richard Cowper
- Language
- eng
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