HORSHAM RURAL City Council has agreed to pay for 1,300 megalitres of water for Green Lake for the 2019-20 summer.
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At its meeting on Monday night, councillors unanimously voted to contribute $29,081.
A report by the councillors infrastructure director John Martin, which was viewed at the meeting, said the lake was below the level suitable for launching boats from the boat ramp.
"In 2018, a supply of 1000 ML was provided to the lake," the report said.
"The fact that the lake level is tracking below the level at the same stage last year indicates that the volume supplied is not enough to maintain a sustainable supply. The lake is around 280 ML below the volume at the same stage last year.
"GWMWater completed a minor supply to the lake in early August, which saw the lake rise from 2400 to 2510 ML in storage. GWMWater is only intending to supply further water to the lake if (the) council agrees to pay for this water."
Councillor Pam Clarke moved the motion, which Cr Les Power seconded. Cr Clarke said Green Lake was the municipality's premier lake.
"It's a real shame, but it's very difficult to get water into Natimuk Lake so we need to make sure we have a place where people can go and water-ski," she said.
"It's so good for our health and our social cohesion to have water our whole community can access."
Cr Power said he believed the economic value of the lake to Horsham to be far greater than $29,000.
Cr David Grimble asked Mr Martin what the current water level was at Green Lake, and where council would get the money to pay for the extra water. Mr Martin said "operational savings in the months ahead" could be used to fund the contribution.
Cr Grimble said the $29,081 was an "unbudgeted line item", and asked the council's chief executive Sunil Bhalla whether the council had identified any cost savings. Mr Bhalla said the council picked up savings across the year, mainly from wages that did not need to be paid due to staff turnover.
Cr Grimble said blue-green algae regularly affected Green Lake.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we could secure a constant flow of water through Green Lake, Dock Lake and back into the (Wimmera) River, so if we do top up Green Lake we're not served with a notice that it's unfit for recreational activity," he said.
Mayor Mark Radford asked Mr Martin whether the amount of water going in would improve opportunities for water-skiing.
"Obviously as summer progresses water will evaporate and the level will drop, so it depends on the time of the year, but on the initial filling it should be good enough," Mr Martin said.
Cr John Robinson did not participate in the debate, declaring a conflict of interest.
The Mail-Times has contacted GWMWater for comment.
The latest data, from September 17, shows Green Lake's storages are at 3020 megalitres.
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