Moutoa Drainage Board

The Moutoa Drainage Board was gazetted on the 23rd of January 1908. The first meeting of the Board was held at Foxton on the 18th March 1908. The Boards district comprised some 12,000 acres situated between Foxton and Shannon and was bounded on the east, south and west sides by the Manawatu River. The first major work undertaken by the Board was the construction of the Moutoa Main Drain, with a set of controlled floodgates leading eastward from the Manawatu River. The Board continued to operate after the creation of the Manawatu Catchment Board in 1943, providing a close link to the farmers in the area and carrying out improvements to the river schemes initiated by the Catchment Board. In 1989 the Board amalgamated with many other authorities to form the new Regional Council.