Page 127 - Bulletin 18 2014

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At this time almost all the engineers in South Africa were engaged in railway or road work.

Despite his lack of similar experience Gamble lost no time in getting to grips with his duties,
and he soon impressed his political masters that his plans and requests were practical and

worthy of support. He undertook an extended tour of his area of responsibility, and compiled
useful situation reports which were acted upon in later years. His reports also led to an Act of

Parliament which formed the basis of the future strategy for irrigation in the Colony and led
to the eventual creation of the Department of Irrigation.

At Port Elizabeth he made recommendations for a proper water supply, which the
Municipality acted upon and for a time possessed “the finest waterworks in the colony”.

Other towns and villages received his attention: among others King Williamstown, East

London, Queenstown, Somerset East, Riversdale and Graaff Reinet benefited from his
expertise and enjoyed adequate water supply for some years.

Gamble insisted that the Government should set up a rain gauge at each magistracy. As a

result some 250 reliable stations were established, and Gamble was then able to produce the
first good rainfall maps for the colony. This led to the production of the first daily weather

reports. He compiled a catalogue of all publications about Southern African climate and also

collated a list of all reliable altitude records of the land form.

His practical work led to the construction of several irrigation schemes and dams. One of the
first was at Sak River in the driest part of the Karoo where the irrigation scheme was viable

for many years. On the other hand he incurred the ire of some colonists by turning down a

proposal for a large dam on the Buffels River near Murraysburg, which according to the
promoters, would have transformed the district into an agricultural paradise. Since the dam

has never been built we can conclude that Gamble knew his hydrology!

Although his job description did not include assistance to the Cape Town Municipality, the

government allowed him to become involved in the search for augmentation of the local
water supply. When the Molteno reservoir collapsed in 1882, Gamble was appointed to find

the cause and remedy. But he knew that the springs on the North face of the mountain were
not sufficient to supply the growing city, and he would have to look elsewhere. Some older

engineers had suggested that the plateau behind Table Mountain was a likely source; Gamble
could confirm from his rain gauges that there would be sufficient rainfall on the mountain top