Lake Wendouree dredging on course

By Fiona Henderson
Updated November 2 2012 - 6:28pm, first published December 28 2011 - 12:36pm
Dredging of the Lake Wendouree rowing course continues.
Dredging of the Lake Wendouree rowing course continues.

COMPETITIVE rowing will return to Lake Wendouree on February 12 — but only over 1000 metres.But Ballarat mayor Mark Harris has confirmed the 2000-metre course will be ready for the 100th Head of the Lake on March 4.Cr Harris said dredging firm Victorian Marine Services was continuing at a rapid rate since two large dredges began operating on the lake at the end of September, with one replacing a smaller machine used at a low water level.“I think people just need to see a Head of the Lake actually on the lake and their concerns will be allayed,” Cr Harris said.Ballarat Rowing Association president Eric Waller said dredging was expected to be finished by mid-February, with the annual January 21 Ballarat regatta forced to move to Nagambie for the eighth year in a row. The St Patrick’s College schoolboys regatta will be held on the lake on February 12 but with racing only over 1000 metres.The Head of the Lake and the Australian Masters Rowing Championships from May 24 to 27 will both run over the full 2000-metre course. However, Rowing Victoria’s 2012 calendar still shows a blank venue for the centenary boat race.But Mr Waller said rowing groups were giving council time and space to complete the dredging job properly.“Overall, we just want to have a course that is done properly, to world standard,” Mr Waller said.“It’s no good doing it in half measure. We want Ballarat accepted as one of the best courses in Australia.“We don’t want it done in dribs and drabs. We want it done properly.”A Ballarat City Council spokesperson said the dredges would finish to the 900-metre mark by mid-January with the full course finished shortly after.“This timeline will enable a 1000-metre course to be buoyed and prepared for the Australia Canoeing Championships which commence on January 27 and then the 2000-metre Head of the Lake which is to be held on March 4,” the spokesperson said.She said extra sediment curtains had been installed around the areas where the dredge was dropping its sediment load and the weekly turbidity measurements – which chart the amount of suspended solids in the water – were decreasing.

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