Gold Coast City Council to spend $280,000 to stop algae forming in Lake Hugh Muntz
Council will spend $280,000 on a bold new plan to solve a long-running algae bloom in one of the Gold Coast’s best-known waterways.
Council
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MORE than $280,000 will be spent to solve a long-running algae bloom in one of the Gold Coast’s best-known waterways.
Mermaid Waters’ Lake Hugh Muntz has been repeatedly hit by algae blooms in recent years, with previous attempts to address the issue proving unsuccessful.
More than 87 tonnes of phoslock will now be dumped into the waterway over a fortnight which council hopes will stop the algae from forming.
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“Algae is a naturally occurring phenomenon even in healthy ecosystems,” area councillor Pauline Young said.
“Ideally, we all want to see this issue resolved but we need to be realistic.
“Nature is a tough opponent and hopefully this latest effort will go a long way towards resolving these blooms.”
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The lake has been closed several times in the past five years due to outbreaks.
More than $100,000 was spent in 2018 dumping 36 tonnes of phoslock into the water.
Cr Young said there was no guarantee of success.
“We have tried it before with some success but this is, by far, the latest and largest investment in the phoslock application,” she said.
“We are optimistic for a significant improvement for lake residents and the thousands who use it annually.”
Phoslock, a liquid which is based on clay, works by binding nutrients on the lake floor which makes it more difficult for algae to form or float to the surface.
Lake Hugh Muntz will be closed for two weeks while the work is underway.
Council expects it to be usable again by mid-August, while city officers will continue to monitor the lake’s status.
A 2018 study by Griffith University found the lake’s water was nutrient-rich and the underlying sediment within it needed to be treated to prevent further outbreaks of algae.
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