An aerial shot of the north of Lake Mulwala. Photo: Matt Griffiths (Safe Sky Drones).
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Matt Griffiths
Yarrawonga Mulwala has seen an influx of visitors over the past three months as they witnessed the eerily wonderful scene of an empty Lake Mulwala.
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Emptied in early May, the lowering of the lake took place to control an invasive waterweed while water authorities also undertook necessary infrastructure maintenance.
Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Executive Director of River Management Andrew Reynolds said MDBA and Goulburn-Murray Water are happy with the results
“The Murray–Darling Basin Authority, in collaboration with Goulburn-Murray Water, will start to re-fill Lake Mulwala to its normal level, which should take three or four weeks and be reached by mid-August,” Mr Reynolds said.
Some water still lay dormant around the Yarrawonga Mulwala traffic bridge while the Murray River still ran through sections. Photo: Matt Griffiths (Safe Sky Drones).
“Lowering the water level by five metres since early May has successfully dried out the invasive waterweed Egeria densa which was helped by some good frosts.
“We appreciate the community’s cooperation while we’ve taken this action and it’s been great to see visitors drawn to the region as well.
“Stream flows from the Kiewa and Ovens rivers are being used to re-fill the lake, along with releases from Hume Dam.”
In the last 15 years Lake Mulwala has been lowered five times in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 and again in 2018.
Each time the lake is lowered it creates a major economic injection into the local economy from visitors wanting to see the eery lake empty while at the same time it provides an opportunity for major works on retaining walls and jetties.
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