WAGGA council's fight to top-up Lake Albert could see it become a pivotal resource for firefighting in the region.
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The council's general manager Peter Thompson said a full lake during the summer period is able to improve the firefighting capacity in Wagga and its surrounds by 700 per cent.
It would come as a great improvement to the region's bushfire resilience for the future, he said, following the devastating bushfire season, which burned more than 330,000 hectares and destroyed more than 100 homes in Eastern Riverina.
Mr Thompson said it will form one part of its "compelling case" to solve Lake Albert's water woes that will be taken up with the state's water minister Melinda Pavey.
The council proposes to recover council treated water, diverted into the Murrumbidgee River, to be used to fill the lake each year.
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Riverina's Rural Fire Service operational officer Bradley Stewart said large bodies of water hold "a pivotal role" in firefighting operations that allow aircrafts to collect and deliver water to the firefront more quickly.
Upwards of 90 aircrafts were committed to the fires across the state earlier this year, which Mr Stewart said was no different for the Dunns Road bushfire that took more than 50 days for firefighters to battle.
"At one point in time we had 15 aircrafts flying out of the Wagga Aviation Airbase.... that flew in and out of the aerodrome 98 times and delivered 275,000 litres of retardant in one day," he said.
Mr Stewart said access to a water supply like Lake Albert will be valuable if residential properties are threatened in the future. He said there are about 7000 homes in the wider region in close proximity, or within, bushfire prone land, therefore it will be a vital resource in an event of a fast moving grass fire.
"It is another tool in the toolbox," he said.
"If the lake were to be full and the need was there for the aircraft to use it, obviously using that water supply will necessitate quicker turnarounds as opposed to the aircraft going back to the airport, landing and taxi in to the aviation airbase to refill and then taxi back to the airport and take off again."
While the council has been preparing its case to convince Ms Pavey to agree to its plan, Mr Thompson said Lake Albert's water levels still remain low despite recent rainfall.
"I don't think the businesses who are reliant on the lake being full will take comfort from the natural precipitation at the moment and we are hoping to get a positive answer," Mr Thompson said.
The council finished clearing vegetation at the northern end of the lake prior to winter, but it is yet to tackle the southern end after the site became too saturated. Works are expected to resume by summer.