I would like to propose another project that will not only enhance the Riverside precinct but maybe give Wagga the much needed “Big Thing” we have been searching for, for so long. The project would be to build the long forgotten North Wagga Lake that was proposed many years ago. 

The lake would cover the area from, near the Gobba Bridge, along the Olympic Highway, around the hills of Cartwrights Hill, across to the railway viaduct and around the back of North Wagga, back to the Gobba Bridge. I believe that Wagga council purchased the land for this some time back and still owns it. 

My proposal would be to install two weirs on the Murrumbidgee River to control the river flow into and out of the lake. 

One weir would be built near the Eunony Bridge to control the water flow into the lake via a channel which would cross under a bridge on the Oura Road, into the eastern end of the lake.

The other weir would control the water flow back into the river near the Gobbagumalin Bridge at the western end of the lake. 

The weirs would be able to allow fresh water into and out of the lake at all times. This, in turn, would alleviate the blue green algae problems we regularly have with Lake Albert.

The earthworks would comprise moving the earth from the main body of the lake to form a maybe 50-metre wide levy bank around the north of North Wagga, with the rising ground along the Olympic Highway and at Cartwrights Hill forming the northern perimeter of the lake. 

The weir systems would also be able to hold the river at a stable level through the Riverside precinct in central Wagga. 

This has always been and always will be a problem for the riverside precinct as with rising and falling river levels, the area will be continually either washed away or consumed by high river levels. At present, we have no control over these fluctuations.

This has been achieved along the Murray River at places like Mulwala and Mildura to name a few.

These stable river levels provide great areas for tourists and locals alike and would certainly enhance the Riverside precinct.

This could also provide the local storage area along the Murrumbidgee that has recently been proposed for Narrandera. 

I am no engineer.but I suspect that in times of impending flood the lake could be released beforehand and a lot of the floodwaters coming downstream could be channelled into fill the lake again and reduce any flood risks to the likes of North Wagga and low lying areas along the river.

I know this would be expensive to build and I don’t know who would fund it, or how we would get this passed the environmentalists, but it would certainly provide a boost to agriculture and tourism.

It would also provide more secure water to irrigators, especially downstream of Wagga.

IT IS MY understanding that the bill curtailing perks for retiring MPs should have been enacted by now but instead it is being shuffled around in the Senate. I wonder if it will be enacted before the next election when indications are that a number of MPs will retire?

IT’S GOOD to hear that Joe Hockey listens to his own advice and will quit Parliament after losing out on a cabinet post. I guess PM Mal would not want someone who had been so close to ex-PM Tony in his new “enlightened” cabinet.