Wagga Boat Club commodore Mick Henderson admitted on Thursday afternoon he was one of "several" people who installed the unauthorised shutters on Tatton Drain "four days ago".

"The finger has been pointed at me from the time [the shutters' discovery] was announced, and I accept that," Mr Henderson told The Daily Advertiser.

"I couldn't personally do that on my own, but it was a community decision that made us go forward with it to show our presence.

"It was all temporary to get some movement back on."

Wagga City Council found the steel shutters across a culvert beneath Lake Albert Road on Wednesday.

At that time, council general manager Peter Thompson condemned their installation as an "deliberate and illegal" act that could jeopardise talks with NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey about a long-term solution for the lake's water issues.

The shutters' installation resembled a council plan that was floated in late 2018 to seal off the drain in O'Halloran Park to divert additional rainwater into Lake Albert.

The council abandoned the plan after the Natural Resource Access Regulator advised that it was illegal to divert water in Tatton Drain without purchasing a water entitlement.

NRAR, as the NSW independent water regulator, has not commented on whether the Tatton Drain shutters installed this week would constitute an offence under the Water Management Act, which can impose penalties of more than $500,000 to an individual.

Mr Henderson said the community had worked for 18 months for a "golden opportunity" to meet with Ms Pavey in December about diverting water from the Murrumbidgee River to top up the lake but the meeting was postponed due to a COVID outbreak in Sydney.

"That's what the most frustrating thing was for people in Wagga. We had the opportunity to sit down and talk with them and it didn't happen. It's simple".

The council has rescheduled the meeting for February 2.

Mr Henderson said community advocates for the lake "needed to keep up the community push to get this over the line".

"You can write all the petitions you like, but actions speak louder than words," he said.

"It all came back to frustration in not knowing where we were going and not getting any answers."

Mr Thompson said on late Thursday morning that a person, whom he did not name, had contacted the council to admit they installed the shutters and has subsequently removed them.

"The person who installed the gates contacted council when he realised that his actions may be used as the justification for the NSW government declining to exercise its discretion to issue a specific purpose access licence to provide water to the lake," he said.

Mr Thompson said the council contacted NRAR following the admission and removal of the shutters and requested that no further action be taken.

Mr Henderson said it was "possible" he could face penalties from NRAR even though the council had asked the regulator to drop the matter.

"Peter Thompson talked to them, the [shutters] have been removed, that was what was asked by the regulator, and they were removed within a couple of hours," Mr Henderson said.

"We didn't actually capture any water into the lake, we actually raised the shutters. The capture of water was non-existent."

An NRAR spokesperson said on Thursday that the regulator had "received a report about the installation of an allegedly unlawful structure at Lake Albert and is looking into it".

"NRAR cannot comment on the structure at this time and will release a statement when the matter has been closed," the spokesperson said.

A NSW Police spokesperson said Riverina Police District was not involved in handling the Tatton Drain issue.