Council unfazed as lakes dry up

Masterton's lakes are drying up amid the drought, but Masterton District Council officers say that is no cause for concern.

The bottom of Remembrance Lake, in Queen Elizabeth Park, has become exposed in parts and the water level in Henley Lake is also low.

Wairarapa farmers held an emergency meeting alongside territorial authority and agricultural industry representatives this week to request a formal drought declaration from the Government.

Sports fields in the region have also been affected by the lack of rain, making some so hard they are unsafe to play on.

Parks and facilities manager Grant Hathaway said Remembrance Lake had receded to such a level before, such as when "resource consent conditions require us to stop taking water from the Waipoua River and on occasions when we drain the lake for maintenance purposes, such as sediment removal". Other than the "aesthetic" effect the council had no other concerns.

He expected the lake to return to normal levels when water restrictions were lifted.

"We monitor the condition of the water in times of reduced flow to allow us to manage any negative effects," he said.

He added paddle boats were unable to operate in the low level of water, although a condition of their lease was that water levels were not guaranteed. He had not identified any effect on the duck population.

The situation was similar at Henley Lake, which was closed for any recreational activities due to toxic algae bloom. "The lake will reopen for recreational water activities once the weather turns colder and we have significant rainfall, which will cause the [algae] population to decline."