Goulburn Murray Water hopeful of less rain and more frost to kill off waterweed in Lake Mulwala

Egeria has taken hold of the lake in the past 25 years, but has rapidly spread since 2018 and could lead to releases in more regular intervals if it isn't effectively killed off this winter.

Goulburn Murray Water water storage services general manager Martina Cusack said the success of the draw down varies each time.

Ms Cusack said there was more work involved to manage waterweed this year.

"It will all depend on how long we can keep it dry," she said.

"It's dependent on rain events and a couple of good frosts will help enormously.

"Obviously if we go into flood events for Lake Hume or the Ovens River, that will have an impact, so it's all in the hands of nature now."

Ms Cusack has been pleased to see residents with properties on the banks of the lake take advantage of the draw down to complete maintenance work.

The empty lake has also been somewhat of a drawcard for Yarrawonga-Mulwala residents and visitors to the region.

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Sonya Frith has lived at Yarrawonga for the past three years and hadn't seen an empty Lake Mulwala before.

"It's a bit eerie and weird to see it like that," she said.

"I knew that they drained it, but I didn't know it was only done every five to six years. I also thought they chemically killed the weed, I didn't realise it was done so the frost could kill it."

Ms Frith said her son Lachlan, 7, enjoyed the chance to explore the surface of the lake.

"I walked all around where the concrete pool is and Lachlan walked in the pool area, which was pretty cool to see what it looked like under there," she said.

"He had a ball and thought it was awesome to be able to climb down in there."

Water will be restored to the lake by late July to ensure it can be used by irrigators.

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