Big Change

The Catchment Board is really bossing the Waipaoa River about now. It has built an earth dam across the old bed below the new Matawhero bridge, and ordered "ole man ribber" to take to the new cut, thus shortening the journey to the sea by miles.

The river will no doubt be good and do what it is told. But when the big floods come it will be doing its best to show who Is the boss.

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Looking upstream from the new dam. River flows into new channel at left.

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The dam seen from the bridge

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Looking down the old channel from the dam. Note old Waipaoa highway bridge