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appeal) or, if it be deemed desirable to deal with them all on the same basis that they should in all cases be charged as if they were situate entirely in the uplands.

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45. We have found the limited area of rating a serious obstacle to effective land drainage in the cases which have been brought specially to our notice, and these cases may on the whole be regarded as typical. For example, the Arundel Commissioners of Sewers, whose area we had an opportunity of inspecting personally, have a rateable area which extends to only 8,137 acres, while the Catchment Area of the River Arun comprises no less than 236,800 acres. The result of the rule of no benefit, no rate" in this case is that only 1/29th of the Catchment Area is charged with drainage rates. The Stour Drainage Board in Essex and Suffolk has a rateable area of 12,100 acres, while the river has a Catchment Area extending to 260,440 acres, and in this case only 1/21st of the Catchment Area is liable to a drainage rate. The present Ouse Drainage Board has a rateable. area of 469,000 acres, while the river has a Catchment Area of some two million acres, i.e., over four times the rateable area.

46. We have been informed that applications by Drainage Authorities have been made during recent years for the extension of their rating areas, and in some cases it has been possible to extend the area by bringing in an additional "benefit" area of skirt" lands, i.e., on the fringe of the area hitherto chargeable. Where, however, river valleys with sharply rising ground on either side are in question, as in the case of the River Arun, little land can be added on the present basis of benefit.

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47. Cases have occurred recently where Drainage Authorities have applied to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for an extension of their jurisdiction to the whole of the catchment basin for purposes of control only, the power to rate the whole of such area being naturally excluded, as unattainable under existing law. We are informed that these efforts met with strenuous opposition, particularly on the part of Urban and Rural District Councils, and after Public Inquiries had been held each project had to be abandoned on account of the opposition. which it encountered.

48. The limited area of rating under the present law has had the most serious results in those districts where a considerable expenditure is necessary in order either to prevent serious flooding or to keep the land in good cultivable condition. Several cases where this has occurred, e.g.. the Essex and Suffolk Stour, have been brought to our notice.

49. Nothing has been more striking in the course of our Enquiry than the revelation of the complete mutual independence of the various Drainage Authorities over the country. They appear to carry out their work without any regard to the opera tions of any other Authority above or below them on the same stream, with the result that not only is the work of one Autho

rity often rendered abortive by the neglect of other Authorities, but much money is spent in an uneconomic and wasteful manner which, if it were expended under a well-regulated scheme involving the co-operation of all the Authorities in a particular catchment area, would have a most beneficial influence on that area. It is this wasteful expenditure due largely to lack of cooperation that makes drainage rates so unpopular and so diffiIcult in some instances to collect. There can be no cure for the virtual antagonism or at least non-co-operation existing between neighbouring Drainage Authorities short of a much larger unit of area than the present area of benefit, and some supreme coordinating authority. This lack of co-operation between Drainage Authorities is largely the result of the piece-meal character of drainage legislation and the haphazard manner in which Drainage Authorities have been set up.

50. We do not wish by any means to pass a general censure on existing Drainage Authorities, many of which have been rendering valuable public service for many years past, but it would be idle to deny that some are inefficient or even moribund, due in many cases to circumstances (such as the limited area of rating and the absence of co-operation) over which they have no control. Some, indeed, have actually ceased to function.

51. Over many parts of the country where drainage is required, and in some cases urgently required, no Drainage Authority of any description is in existence. This is largely due to the fact that Authorities have been set up for special areas without any regard to the needs of neighbouring areas. It may very well be that if a part only-and that possibly a very limited partof a Catchment Area is under the supervision of Drainage Authorities, effective drainage operations cannot be properly carried out for the benefit of the whole area, with the consequence that not only will the areas possessing no Drainage Authorities be badly drained, but the neglect of these areas may have a very deleterious effect on the drainage of other areas where there are in existence Drainage Authorities-perhaps energetic and efficient. Moreover, the operations of an energetic authority may even hamper the effective clearance of the main channel, in the absence of co-ordination.

52. Our attention has also been called to the difficulty of collecting drainage rates. Drainage Authorities have power to levy rates distinct from and additional to rates levied by other Local Authorities, and collect these rates themselves. In many cases this operates against easy collection. The arrival of a Demand Note for drainage rates received perhaps at irregular intervals, and generally after the demand for ordinary rates, is in itself an irritant. Many of our witnesses have stressed the importance of including drainage rates in the same Demand Note as ordinary rates and arranging for their collection by the

Rating Authorities operating under the Rating and Valuation Act, 1925.

NEED FOR LAND DRAINAGE.

53. During the Great War special attention was drawn to the serious need for land drainage in many parts of the country. Complaints had indeed been current for a long time previously, and these complaints were directed mainly against various inadequacies in the then existing provision for land drainage. As the period of the War lengthened and the necessity became apparent of raising from the land of this country as much as possible of the food required for the population, the problem of land drainage emerged as one of great urgency.

54. As we have already indicated in paragraph 40, the desirability of providing for the proper drainage of the agricultural land of this country was fully appreciated long before 1914; the emergency measures necessitated by the War merely focussed general attention upon it. The Select Committee of the House of Lords of 1877 reported that considerable damage was being caused in various parts of England by the prevalence of floods and that such floods had been more frequent and of longer duration than was formerly the case. The Committee considered that if the channels and outfalls of rivers were properly cared for, any water flowing into those rivers from their respective catchment areas might reasonably be expected to be discharged by them in sufficient time to render unlikely any serious damage to agricultural lands by floods.

55. We are cordially in agreement with this view, which unfortunately was not then embodied in any Statute, and we fear that the position with regard to land drainage has steadily become worse since the Report of the Select Committee was presented. This no doubt is partly due to the fact that the depression in agriculture which existed during the last 20 years of the 19th Century made it increasingly difficult for owners of agricultural land to maintain at their own cost an efficient system of land drainage over large tracts of country. These difficulties have been aggravated in some parts of the country by the scarcity of labour during the War, and its increased cost since. With the heavy fall in the prices of agricultural products and the splitting up of estates during the last few years, the serious waterlogging of land may be expected to become even more prevalent, unless adequate steps are taken to ensure that drainage operations, in many cases of an extensive character, are carried out efficiently and economically.

56. In 1925, in view of certain difficulties which had arisen in connection with the administration of the River Ouse Drainage Board, a Commission was appointed by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate the whole problem of the drainage of the area served by that river. In their Report the Commissioners recommended certain departures

from hitherto recognised principles with regard to rating for drainage purposes, but these recommendations were based on conditions obtaining in the Ouse district, where the drainage problem was recognised as one of special urgency and complication. Nevertheless the continued deterioration of much agricultural land throughout England and Wales, due largely to the inability of those who at present pay drainage rates to support the heavy charges made upon them for drainage works, called for the urgent and careful consideration of the Government, and we understand that, in consequence, we were appointed to consider the problem as it affected the whole country.

57. It is estimated by the Drainage Engineers of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries that the productive value of no less than 4,362,000 acres of land in England and Wales or approximately one-seventh of the total area of land now used for agricultural purposes, is dependent for its fertility on arterial drainage. Of this total 2,892,000 acres are situate in existing drainage areas, while the balance of 1,470,000 acres is outside any drainage district. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has stated, moreover, that at least 1,755.000 acres of land are in immediate need of drainage, and of this area only 285,000 acres are within existing drainage districts. Although much of this land may, as regards field drains and ditches, receive proper attention from the individual farmer, his work may be nullified by the absence of adequate arterial drainage. Of the above area of 1,755,000 acres, 1,279,000 acres are said to suffer from flooding, occasioned by defective or obstructed arterial channels, while 476,000 acres consist of land capable of improvement by means of small drainage schemes for the clearance of main ditches and other small watercourses. These figures do not include land which is in need of ordinary field drainage; on this subject information is not available, but it is probable that the area is considerable.

Two MAIN ISSUES.

58. The two principal points which have emerged from our investigations as to the basis of any amendment of drainage law are:

(a) the necessity of having a supreme Authority in each Catchment Area which should be in charge of the main channel and banks of the river and work in closest collaboration with the Drainage Authorities concerned with the internal drainage of the catchment area; and

(b) the prime importance of the extension of the area of and alteration in the basis of rating for drainage purposes, in order to include a much wider area and basis of contribution than can be brought in under the old interpretation of the principle of "benefit."

59. In this connection we find ourselves in the main in agreement with the Select Committee of the House of Lords of 1877 and also with the Commission appointed in 1925 to inquire into the Ouse problem, although in details it will be found that our recommendations differ somewhat from the conclusions arrived at by these two Enquiries.

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60. Much misapprehension has existed with regard to the question of the rating of the Uplands, and by the expression Uplands we mean in this Report those lands comprised within a Catchment Area which are above the level hitherto deemed to benefit directly from drainage works. Many people are of opinion that an Upland rate will include the cost of maintenance of the Lowland internal drainage systems. We feel that this misunderstanding should at once be removed The subject of drainage rating naturally divides itself into two branches :

(1) Outfall Works.

(2) Internal Drainage Systems.

If our recommendations are adopted, there will be set up for each Catchment Area, where required, an Authority charged with the supervision of all drainage works within its area, and the direct responsibility for the main outfall river which carries the waters from the Catchment Area to the sea. The Authority should have jurisdiction over the whole river, including the waterway, its bed and banks, for the purposes of drainage. Apart from the contributions referred to in paragraph 75, it is in respect of the maintenance of the main river only that rates should be imposed upon the Uplands.

61. In our opinion, if drainage is to be effective the first requirement is to clear the main stream of the river beginning with the outfall and working up towards the source. On this matter we had valuable evidence with regard to the drainage of the River Thames from the Thames Conservancy, who pointed out that if the tributary streams are cleared and the main channel of the river is untouched, the result will be merely to transfer the troubles arising from flooding and waterlogging from the tributaries to the main channel. Efficient drainage operations on the tributaries would no doubt have the effect of improving the drainage of the land adjoining those tributaries, but it would also cause the water to flow more rapidly and in greater volume into the main channel, and unless this is in proper condition to receive that additional water, the lands bordering on the main channel must inevitably be flooded and in many cases become waterlogged.

62. According to the most authoritative technical evidence submitted to us, the basic cause of defective drainage is in the great majority of cases to be found in the neglected condition. of the channels of the main rivers and their principal tributaries. With this opinion we are in cordial agreement. It is

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