Cr Kendall spoke out after a surge of support on social media for one of the people who placed an unauthorised shutter over Tatton Drain in an attempt to divert rainwater into the lake.

Both Cr Kendall and council general manager Peter Thompson have pointed to a proposal to generate 5000 extra megalitres for the lake as a response to widespread claims that Wagga City Council was doing nothing.

The proposal requires Ms Pavey to use her ministerial discretion to issue a specific purpose access licence to provide water to the lake.

"I don't expect a decision to be made at [a February 2 meeting] but very soon after that meeting I think the community would expect a decision to be made," Cr Kendall said.

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"But if a decision is not made, that's the time for the community to then really start voicing what it wants and hold the government accountable."

The comments cap off a week in which an unassuming road culvert next to a off-leash dog park and a BMX track became the focal point for community anger over decades of water issues at Lake Albert.

Wagga Boat Club commodore Mick Henderson admitted on Thursday he was one of "several" people who installed the shutters on the drain, which were removed on Wednesday after they were discovered by the council.

Mr Thompson said the council had sought advice from a prominent QC that the government would not create an unworkable precedent by giving the council credit for effluent currently discharged in the Murrumbidgee River and then using the one third of the equivalent water to top up the lake.

"This is a solution that will permanently fix the lake," Mr Thompson said, describing Ms Pavey as "very supportive" of the proposal but the "unlawful" drain shutters had risked her siding with advisers who opposed the deal.

"We have put in so much work over the course of 12 months to respectfully encourage the Minister to make a decision," Mr Thompson said.

"Putting gates on [the drain] won't solve Lake Albert's problem, we know that. The level of water that can be secured that way is minimal and it is not a long-term solution."