Community
4 April, 2025
Boating paused in Lake Purrumbete
THE Lake Purrumbete Foreshore Reserve Committee of Management is asking residents and visitors to be patient as they work to open a temporary boat ramp following a recent drop in water levels in the lake.
Water levels in Lake Purrumbete have dropped to the point where boats can no longer be launched from the main boat ramp.
Committee secretary Andrew Benallack said the committee had been preparing over the past six months for the possibility of water levels being low due to low rainfall across the district.
“We’ve gotten to now, and it hasn’t rained. That’s setting up a period of pretty limited run-off – even if we do get rain this year, it’s not going to fill the lake straight away,” he said.
“It’ll take a coupe of years to get it back up to where it was.
“We contacted Parks Victoria about a month ago as a follow-up to some requests to meet with them, but not urgently, late last year.
“Two and a half weeks ago, I went out to the lake and met with representatives from the local office, which is Port Campbell.
“They were all over the previous effort that was done as this occurred about 16 years ago.”
A temporary boat ramp had previously been installed following a previous drop in water levels, with a laneway available to access the ramp.
Mr Benallack said maintenance would need to be performed on the ramp before it could be reopened.
“To do that, we need a new lease drawn up because it’s a private property that it accesses,” he said.
“It’s important to have that gazetted and put to bed – that’s the process we’re in right now.
“What we need to do is keep our nose down and make sure we get this dealt with in what I consider a short window.
“Last time, it was an absolute nightmare dealing with bureaucracy – it took four to six months to get this process dealt with.
“Hopefully we can speed that up to a couple of weeks to a month.”
Mr Benallack said the measures were being taken to protect the productivity of Lake Purrumbete, both for visitors and the residents of the caravan park at the bank of the lake.
“What is very important the public knows is that you can’t launch a boat out there now for obvious reasons, but no-one’s sitting on their hands,” he said.
“It takes time, and a little bit of time and a little bit of patience is what people will need to embrace while this is being worked out.”
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