Gary Williams said the sailing club is pretty happy with the expectation that Council’s trial of ultrasound technology may reduce and or remove algae, but water levels are decreasing making the lake less functional.  

“The evaporation rate is 1.2 to 1.4 metres of water a year,” he said. 

“The water level is below two metres at the moment and we are expecting, unless we have abnormal seasonal conditions, the water level will go down to 1.4 metres in depth. 

“That is a very low level and a lake that is less than usable. When full the lake is 3.6 metres deep and 2.5 metres is nice.” 

Mr Williams said even for the crafts that can still be used in that depth, they face the issue of getting them into the water. 

“It's like getting into a farm dam with mud and slush,” he said. 

“From a powerboat perspective that would be unusable. 

“The council is looking at what they can do to try and moderate or increase the level of water.”

Recently, Wagga Council announced it could face months of waiting and hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra costs for its Lake Albert water level fix due to state government red tape.

Mr Williams said buying water is an option available, but estimates put the cost at $400 per millimetre of height

“If those figures are fair of today's, the water we need is valued at $4 million,” he said. 

After Christmas, these large boats may not be able to take on the Barry Carne event. 

“A lot of roadblocks appears and we are always looking to find options. We are going to have to go through our original reviews to see if there was something we missed or if there is an option.” 

Mr Williams said they are not giving up and are grateful for the work of Wagga City Council. 

In mid-December, the ultrasound technology will be trialled in a bid to control blooms at the Lake Albert. 

Wagga City Council voted at its 29 October meeting to proceed with a 12-month trial period of the Envirosonic Ultrasound system which has the potential to control cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) to safe levels.

The trial will cost $125,000.

ALS Water Canberra will conduct weekly water quality sampling of Lake Albert. The performance of the ultrasound technology will be gauged against weekly lab results and the green, amber and red algae alert levels.

The trial will be deemed successful if the cyanobacteria levels are within 50,000 cells/ mL (amber level) during peak summer months and 5000 cells/mL (green level) during all other months.

The Envirosonic units are solar powered and will be installed on pontoons anchored to the bottom of the lake.

Council is working with lake user groups to ensure education and safety surrounding the units and their placement. Part of that process may involve placing buoys. 

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