'Wagga on leading edge': Lake Albert blue green algae treatment under way

As a long-time Wagga resident and the commodore of the city's boat club, he sees the lake as an important part of the city's identity.

"Whether it's doing something with the boat club, or over on the other side at Apex Park, on the water with boats ... there really aren't a lot of days I'm not here," Cr Henderson said.

"When I got involved, the lake was dry, the boat club was in a real financial situation and I just felt as a community member we need to do something about that.

"It's probably been really under-maintained in the last few years. It's a big step forward to see something done to improve the water quality."

Cr Henderson has been pushing for the council to fund treatment of the lake to prevent future blue green algae blooms from compromising the water quality.

On Tuesday, the process of applying that treatment began.

Right now, the lake is on an amber alert for blue green algae. This means it is safe for recreational use, but may not be potable.

The 121-hectare Lake Albert has been off limits a total of 453 summer days due to blue green algae since 2018.

This does not include the summer of 2020, when the lake was closed due to low water levels.

The council has plans to build a pipeline from the Murrumbidgee to reduce the risk of future closures due to water levels.

Cr Henderson said the pipeline would allow locals to count on the lake being available as a recreational site in the summer.

"It's a natural asset. It's something the town is growing around now. We want it to be something everyone in the community can use," he said.

"Whether it's walking around the lake, holding a charity event, stuff on the water like sailing. There's a huge amount of activities held around the lake now.

"When the lake's full and you see the boats out there, that's when you get the best enjoyment because you can see it's being used."

The innovative treatment system being used by the council, Waterzyme, uses enzymes to starve blue green algae of light and make it sink to the bottom of the lake.

This effectively kills the algae, preventing it from excreting toxins into the water.

The enzymes in the treatment specifically target blue green algae and are not harmful to other life in the water, according to Waterzyme founding director Michael Askew.

Mr Askew said the work on Lake Albert was the largest trial Waterzyme has ever undertaken and will serve as a proof of concept for the effectiveness of the product.

"Wagga is really on the leading edge of treatments for blue green algae," he said.

"We have run a trial in Wagga on a smaller body of water, which was successful. Now we're stepping up into the larger water body, but the principles of how the product works don't change - just the dosage.

"We expect to see really positive results in the next few weeks."

The decision to treat the lake so soon came as a surprise to some, after councillors voted to defer a decision about the Waterzyme trial until February 2024.

Due to his conflict of interest in matters concerning the lake, Cr Henderson was unable to vote or join debate in chambers on the trial.

He said behind the scenes conversations between councillors, staff and Waterzyme resulted in a two-month trial at minimal expense, rather than the two-year trial originally voted on.

Less than a week later, council staff announced they would proceed with the trial in the first week of January.

Cr Henderson said it was a mark of councillors' abilities to discuss and negotiate disagreements in good faith.

"All the councillors and the council have come onboard, so we've been proactive in moving it forward," he said.

"There were costing concerns, but we've sorted that out. Now, here we go in January instead of April.

"We're going to get a better result in a longer period. It'll work better for the whole community if we can do it again next year."

Council will revisit the issue of a longer Waterzyme trial in February, following a budget update.