INSTEAD of the roar of jet boats echoing out across Lake Albert it was the measured tones of the city's leaders that were heard loudest on Saturday afternoon.
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Set against the backdrop of a 'dry' Barry Carne Interstate Ski Challenge due to a lack of water in the lake, the public meeting canvassed options for making it usable again.
The simplest and cheapest solution, of course, is to hope for more rain.
We saw this week how quickly the lake responds to some decent falls with the lifting of the blue-green algae alert after 44mm fell at the start of the month.
However, relying on favours from the weather gods is fraught in an age when dry is the new normal.
A second option is to put the Murrumbidgee River to work and pump water from there into Lake Albert to keep both the quality and level up.
This is not an easy fix, obviously. It would cost millions, potentially take years to build the necessary infrastructure and it has one major drawback.
As Councillor Paul Funnell said at yesterday's meeting, irrigators whose livelihoods depend on that water are already struggling to get the allocations they need.
To take more water out of a river system that itself is facing health challenges is like robbing a sick Peter to pay an equally sick Paul.
The third and, if yesterday's meeting is any guide, most likely option is to pump treated water from the Narrung Street sewage treatment plant into the lake.
Again, this solution would take time and cost many millions of dollars - some $18 to $20 million, in fact, according to Wagga mayor Greg Conkey.
But it would have the advantage of not relying on both the vagaries of the weather and the vagaries of water allocation decisions in a highly politicised landscape.
How do we pay for it? Well, Cr Conkey outlined three ways at the meeting. Government grants, a loan or a rate rise. In truth, if this project is to proceed, a combination of all three would likely be required.
Wagga MP Joe McGirr said he was prepared to fight to get the council the money it needs from the state government, which would be a major test of the independent's clout in a parliament in which he does not hold the balance of power.
After yesterday's meeting we do appear to be one step closer to finding a solution to the lake's woes.
But it is only one tiny step in a very long and complex journey.
A happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there, Ross.