Recreational water boost for Green Lake

Published on 01 October 2021

Green Lake water skiing.png

Water skiing, sailing and other leisure activities will be possible at Green Lake this summer after Horsham Rural City Council and GWMWater agreed on an allocation of recreational water. 

The popular recreation lake south of Horsham will receive its first top-up since 2019 with a transfer to run between now and mid-November.

Under contemporary arrangements, Council can purchase water for recreation but only during years when GWMWater has enough supply to meet its rural and urban obligations.

That wasn’t possible last year due to the relatively low water levels and rainfall over the previous 12 months.

However GWMWater has this week committed 2500 megalitres for Green Lake and Council has agreed to pay for it using existing budgeted funds of $60,000.  

It will be the most significant inflow since 2016 and projections show it will increase the level by 1.6m to 2.7m. The lake is currently only 0.9m above empty.

Mayor Robyn Gulline said Council was pleased to accept GWMWater’s offer which will effectively shore up recreational activities there for at least the next 12 months.

She said recreational water provided social and mental health benefits to the community.

“A full Green Lake this summer is great for our municipality. Besides its enormous recreational benefits to the community, it will also enhance business and tourism for the Wimmera,” Cr Gulline said.

“The pandemic has restricted all of our recreation activities across the past 18 months. So to have guaranteed access to such a popular lake this summer is a terrific boost for our community.”

GWMWater Managing Director Mark Williams said the water corporation had been working closely with Council to ensure the top-up for Green Lake would be sufficient to enable recreation access over summer.

The larger volume of fresh water this year should help mitigate the risk of the emergence of blue-green algae.

“We have been monitoring our water resource position closely to ensure that we have enough water to supply our urban and rural customers not just this year, but in the years ahead,” Mr Williams said.

“Thanks to a relatively wet winter and even some good rainfall this week, we are thrilled to now be in a position to make this water available for recreational use.”

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