Download - New Zealand Society of Soil Science

machinery compacts wet soil, leading to severe problems later, not only in draining excess rainfall or
irrigation water out of the soil, but in getting the water to enter the soil in the first place, and then
penetrate down the root zone.
Except in Pakistan, Elwyn was always, until 1991, a Public Servant, and believed his function was to
serve the public whose taxes paid him and who shouldn't, therefore, be charged extra for assistance; he
bitterly resented the 'user-pays' of Rogernomics. He loved his work and had few other interests; he
tried to teach people, "Don't treat your soils like dirt!"
He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, and by his children Daniel and Katherine (Kay).
Elizabeth Griffiths.
From Jim Watt - at the funeral of Elwyn Griffiths at Havelock North, 7th August 2009.
I speak first on behalf of the NZ Society of Soil Science. I have no special mandate to do so, except
that as a past national president I believe the Society would want to salute Elwyn, for the following
reasons:
His brilliant orchestration of the 1982 Hastings Conference. Based in the Hastings City
Council chambers, and with field trips to many topical corners of Hawke's Bay, that
Conference is noteworthy for its collation of the then existing soil information, for its
identification of opportunities, and for its placing the area on the map and before the soil
science fraternity, as an area that ranks in the top 5% of New Zealand's best soils.
His NZ wide addition of the soil factor in irrigation planning and management.
His special and unique contribution to the science and art of pedology. In particular, his
development of assessment criteria for predicting the ways and processes whereby soil accepts
water, stores water, and transmits water.
His understanding of the regolith in the area; the contribution of volcanic ash showers; the
Quaternary deposits of loess; and the evolution of the flood plains. On the Heretaunga Plains
and in Havelock North, his analysis of the bank exposure adjacent to the Crosses Road Bridge
is an example of his unravelling of a sequence of events right on our doorstep.
Colleen and I came to Hawke's Bay in 1975, and for the next 17 years I worked at Havelock North in
the same office of the NZ Soil Bureau as Elwyn. He was the District Pedologist in charge of soil
survey in the area. I came as a watershed and soil hydrologist, with an enthusiasm for developing
better ways of defining the physical behaviour of soils to water. Others in the Havelock North office
through the years included Gilbert Smith, Colin Payne, the late Brian Purdie, Brian Mclaughlan, Earl
Joe, and Keith Vincent. When Elwyn's arthritis threatened an end to field work, Richard Ward was
employed as Elwyn's personal technician - a unique acknowledgment by the then director of Soil
Bureau, Mike Leamy, of Elwyn's flare for innovative field work and need for practical physical
support.
With others though the country, our association culminated in the 1980's Soil Water Assessment and
Measurement Programme (SWAMP) and the preparation of an initial assemblage of information on
basic soil hydrology - a database which has been later used by the USDA, and in NZ as extensions of
soil knowledge and behaviour. In the development of this work we were especially inspired by the
Canadian work of McKeague and Topp. In later years the experience was to lead Keith Vincent and
me to pesticide-transport studies with Murray Close - field work that was pioneered in Hawke's Bay.
I learnt an extraordinary amount from Elwyn. I have to admit that at times we had our arguments, and
some robust discussions; and sometimes we didn‘t agree. But we 'delivered'!
Thank you Elwyn, for being you.
Rest in peace, my friend.
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