AS IF TO PROVE just how hard the drought has hit, contractors were out mowing Lake Albert yesterday.While the sight of what looked to be a giant lawnmower cutting grass was depressing, the work follows staunch protests from lake supporters desperate to see restorative action. That work has finally started and should be complete within two weeks.Wagga City Council received the green light from the Department of Primary Industries on Thursday for the $30,000 desilting project.Such is the low level of the lake, its northern end has become a paddock – even small trees are growing on what was once a vibrant aquatic park.A scraper was put to work yesterday to rip out the vegetation.Manager of civil infrastructure works, Richard Lasek, said: “Once it’s gone, then work can begin to remove the silt from the lake bed which will increase the usable area of the lake for boating and fishing.”Mayor Kerry Pascoe watched the commencement of the works in earnest.Eight thousand cubic metres of silt sediment will have been removed by the time the works finish, increasing the area of the lake by five hectares. The lack of rain is still the mayor’s biggest concern.“The water is a serious situation but what can we do about it? We haven’t had any reasonable rain this year. There was nothing substantial before Christmas. We would need continued rain to dampen the whole valley or one of those magical events like in November 2005 when the rain came and filled the lake,” he said.
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