Men and horses working on the Taieri Drainage Contour Channel in the Berwick/Henley area

In 1910 the Taieri Drainage Board were considering tenders for the Lee Creek Contour Channel, a storm water channel to cut off all water from the plains and hills. The contour channel tapped the Lee Stream about a mile to the west of Outram and intercepted numerous small feeders from the Maungatua range of hills on the northern side of the plain. The contour channel almost junctions with the Waipori Stream about three-quarters of a mile to the south of Berwick township. In 1931 it was stated that the Contour Channel had been improved over a distance of 4 miles and the whole work to be carried out by the Public Works Department on the Taieri Plains is complete and has been handed over to the Taieri River Trust for future maintenance. In the photo - A.P. Fleming (father of Hector), Ben Couston (Engineer), Jack Stevenson, Joe Hall, Alf Wheeler, Edgar Ward (Wardy), Bob Dixon, Tommy Leitch, Tom Garth, Mick or Alex Fleming, Cecil Sprott, Hector Fleming, Harry Reid or W. G. Reid (Wm Reid)