Page:The Manchester and Thirlmere Scheme - Somervell (1878).djvu/11

 A passage in the Engineer's report, which bears strongly on this aspect of the question, is one in which he states that in the position which the Corporation have assumed, "an addition of 6,000,000 gallons per day is not worth considering;" a quantity, nevertheless, equal to the total consumption for sanitary and domestic purposes in the two Boroughs during 1874, if money values correspond with quantities.

Then, to look at the other side of the question: the example of Lock Katrine, the water of which has been conveyed to Glasgow, is quoted, to show that little injury to the picturesque need be feared, from turning Lake Thirlmere into a reservoir; but it is to be noted that the level of Loch Katrine has been little, if at all, raised. The lake has not been converted into a reservoir, but simply used as one; whereas, to obtain anything like the supply from Thirlmere, calculated upon by the Corporation, and which would alone justify the large outlay involved in the scheme, the level of that lake must be greatly raised in winter, and, in dry seasons, must be reduced in proportion.

Now, everyone acquainted with Thirlmere knows that the western bank is, beyond comparison, the most beautiful shore of the Lake District; and, that to raise or drop the level of the water, even twenty or thirty feet, would utterly mar the whole effect. The mountains would remain, but the Lake would, for centuries, be simply an artificial reservoir.

From the configuration of the neighbouring hills, the gathering ground of this Lake is exceptionally small, and, from this cause, a copious supply for the dry season can only be secured by extensive storage. The Engineer gives the present area of the Lake as 335 acres, and states that it will be necessary to increase it to 700 acres, in order to obtain