John Davidson Low

Interviewer: Nancy Burnett

Abstractor: Marion Hawkes

Interview: 23 April 2009

TRACK 1

00:00 Interview Identification

00:43 JOHN DAVIDSON LOW born 23 December 1943

00:54 Interview Agreement

01:35 Living in BAYSWATER 5 Kilometres east of OTAUTAU on banks of APARIMA RIVER

02:05 SELF Living on same farm as Grandfather who took up land in 1897 – third generation on farm

02:27 First flood in 78 – effected farm due to amount of water - at the time living on farm with wife BARBARA been married a couple of years – had 6 month old son MATTHEW [sp?]

02:46 May 1978 first flood

02:55 SELF relates flood warning – by word of mouth water coming over banks of river upstream from farm – relates and describes helping out neighbouring farmers with stock and evacuating houses – continues to describe flood arrival at farm in dark – Shifted wife and son out to YELLOWBLUFFS [sp?] to MRS SMITH’s place [SELF’s Aunt] Higher ground – shifted things that might be water damaged and stock into paddocks where they would be safe - farm is flat and is situated on BANKS OF APARIMA – land moves off down towards BAYSWATER BOG - Relates how floodwaters moved – BURNETTS behind had a lot more floodwater

04:53 SELF relates stayed at AUNTS one night – weren’t able to return home that night DUCK CREEK was flooding – relates and describes floodwaters next morning – had to take vehicles roundabout route RINGWAY RIDGES AND GLADFIELD to get back to farm – roads were driveable but there was water – floodwaters starting to drop off – relates arriving back at farm checked stock – water over farm – not deep – wasn’t in house – but was under house – perhaps 1 foot deep [30 cm] – continues to describe flood effects on farm – repairs – stock mostly sheep – some cows – winter feed – stored grain in SILO was wet – needed to be dried – wet hay – potential fire hazard – stock feed supplements – long period clean up – boundary fence repairs – normal farm operations – ground nearest to river was highest – had shifted stock from this area to other side of farm – stock were standing in water – if stock had remained on river side may not have been in water – continues to describe flood - no large volumes of water at any great speed

11:25 SELF relates 1978 flood went over a lot of farmland in BAYSWATER; 1984 and 1987 flood effected on RIVER side – fence damage – these were two FLOODS went into OTAUTAU and FLOODED the townships – helped out in Community

12:03 SELF describes why water came down to BAYSWATER but not into town itself 1978 flood water came out left hand side of River goes into BAYSWATER – OTAUTAU on right bank – BAYSWATER on left bank – where flood broke out 1984 and 1987 floods – water broke out on right hand side – went down into APARIMA AREA – down into OTAUTAU ‘through back door’ – flooded town – OTAUTAU wasn’t affected in 1978 flood 12:43 SELF explains where the 1978 flood waters came from – headwaters of APARIMA - Heavy rain – catchment - 1984 flood – middle of summer – caught out – lot of water in head waters - Takes about 50 millimetres of rain in 24 hours to start causing flood events - Short period of time – short catchment rain came down – not usual

13:30 SELF relates 1984 floods – had community involvement – describes election to local CATCHMENT BOARD in 1980s – BOARD did DRAINAGE of SOUTHLAND – RIVER PROTECTION – FLOOD PROTECTION – reducing risk of floods – when flood came SELF was involved SOUTHLAND wide basis – monitoring systems had changed and updated – could monitor every hour – describes how monitoring worked

15:00 End of Track 1

TRACK 2

00:00 SELF continues to describe how monitoring system worked DUNROBIN – JACOBS CREEK BRIDGE – rainfall gauges – CATCHMENT BOARD monitored – effective system

00:40 SELF explains CATCHMENT BOARD – purpose – started from LOCAL DRAINAGE BOARD – farmers formed Boards organised drainage – explains – DRAINAGE and DEVELOPMENT of SOUTHLAND farms - SOIL CONSERVATION – RIVER PROTECTION – Looked after HILL and upcountry farms

01:50 SELF explains role as elected member of SOUTHLAND CATCHMENT BOARD – did three terms in role - Monthly meetings – drainage – consents – flood protection and improvement In relation to 1984 and 1987 floods – did three terms on CATCHMENT BOARD - CATCHMENT BOARD became SOUTHLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL now known as as ENVIRONMENT SOUTHLAND

03:38 SELF explains 1984 flood – on CATCHMENT BOARD and farming at the time - Similar event to 1978 flood – describes where flooding occurred – major break on right bank of river went down into OPIO and then into OTAUTAU STREAM and ‘overcame’ the OTAUTAU’s – did have flood banks not high enough – virtually swamped TOWN and SCHOOL – Had monitoring – knew event was coming - shifted stock – flooding on farm restricted to riverside of farm – stock well away - minor damage to fences – OTAUTAU township badly hit – helped out in town for 2 or 3 days – water had broken over banks on southern side – ponded in town – most houses has water in them because they were in flat – lot of cleaning up – shifting furniture – carpets -helping people sort their houses – stressful – first time OTAUTAU had flooded in recent history – effected OTAUTAU SCHOOL – holiday for school children until alternative arrangements could be made – floods went down through main street because of force lifted tar seal – little higher than previous flood – way floodwaters broke out and came into town – filled up – caught people out – was warning – no fatalities - SELF’s own farm and house were ok this flood – water in people’s houses 30 to 50 centimetres deep – people hadn’t had time to shift belongings – no sewerage in OTAUTAU so people’s belongings had to be thrown out – towns people were assisted by being accommodated on local farms

7:39 SELF relates how this affected him being on CATCHMENT BOARD – were pressuring GOVERNMENT at time to get money to subsidise river schemes to get them running - GOVERNMENT had in past offered up to 70 per cent subsidies on schemes – this had withdrawn – explains – farmers property rating – ratepayers funding –without GOVERNMENT funding – ratepayers couldn’t afford schemes - INVERCARGILL well flooded – INVERCARGILL AIRPORT under water – trying to get GOVERNMENT approval

9:57 SELF relates 1987 FLOOD was in MARCH – floods didn’t just occur in winter – 1984 FLOOD was JANUARY – previous FLOOD 1978 was in MAY – big one on MATAURA 1978 was OCTOBER –

10:36 SELF relates 1987 FLOOD struck APARIMA CATCHMENT – broke the banks - went into OTAUTAU and flooded it – continues to relate father’s account of 1913 and 1916 FLOODs – went over BAYSWATER – after these events farmers put up own banks - Describes how farmers erected banks or mounds – wasn’t high enough protection for events they were having - when 1987 FLOOD hit OTAUTAU mainly in SCHOOL area and NORTHERN part of OTAUTAU got wet – galvanised GOVERNMENT’s attention – within 2 DAYS of this flood – CATCHMENT met with PETER TAPSELL [GOVERNMENT MINISTER] and FRASER COLEMAN [Minster of works LABOUR GOVERNMENT] [GOVERNMENT MEMBERS WELLINGTON ] in OTAUTAU to look at flood damage – recalls residents from OTAUTAU not happy with GOVERNMENT – GOVERNMENT changed rules – GOVERNMENT subsidised 70 per cent for flood schemes – by 1989 1990 CATCHMENT BOARD had new scheme in place for APARIMA – LOWER ORETI - INVERCARGILL TRIBUTARIES – continues to explain

14:20 SELF talks about how FLOOD PROTECTION SCHEME established and worked –

15:00 End of Track 2

TRACK 3

00:00 SELF continues to talk about establishing CATCHMENT FLOOD PROTECTION SCHEME How it worked – who paid – public meetings held in small towns information sent out - OTAUTAU – LOWER ORETI – and INVERCARGILL areas – SELF had been In CATCHMENT BOARD for 9 years at this stage – took delegation to WELLINGTON to meet MINISTERS a month after MINISTERS had visited OTAUTAU – delegation included BOARD MEMBERS and RATEPAYERS – received very well – details about approval – hire contractors – THREE SCHEMES – describes what and how flood banks are built – planning problems for farmers – benefits – issues with who should pay - describes schemes built to contain 100 year floods - systems have not been tested – generation of people that haven’t experienced floods

6:34 SELF talks about future – flood protection – potential flood events might be bigger – CLIMATE CHANGE – people who have not experienced floods – is devastating – good COMMUNITIES come together at this time – floods are possible and there are effects

8:25 SELF talks about OTAUTAU RIVER BOARD – more localised area round OTAUTAU – would have built original banks round OTAUTAU and in RURAL AREAS and were responsible for that – original FLOODS 1913 and 1916 FLOODS farmers started building banks and then RIVER BOARD came into place and built their own localised – DRAINAGE BOARDS and RIVER BOARDS were combined to make CATCHMENT BOARD and then moved on to be called REGIONAL COUNCIL – eventually ENVIRONMENT SOUTHLAND - deal with FLOOD PROTECTION – WATER QUALITY – ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES – much broader spectrum

9:27 End of Track