Melbourne Water has started transferring water into a Caroline Springs lake after months of low water levels.
Water from the nearby Serpentine Lake, known locally as Lake Logan, is being drained into Spring Lake, which had been the subject of numerous complaints to Melton council and Melbourne Water.
Social media users uploaded footage online showing the murky Spring Lake, where wildlife “has been left to perish in the low water levels”.
The footage shows fish – possibly carp – struggling to swim in the lake, which had been drained late last year as part of a Victoria Police investigation.
“This is the current state of the original lake of Caroline Springs,” one social media user commented. “Once a beautiful, lush, vibrant place full of life, ducks, swans, a cafe, birds of all types, and people enjoying walks around the lake.
“It now looks like a deserted hole in the ground with dying fish, dying trees, a couple of starving ducks, an abandoned building boarded up and a rotting wooden bridge/walkway.”
Melbourne Water was swift to act.
Waterways and land manager Emily Phillips said its water management plan for Spring Lake had been activated, a five-step plan involving taking stormwater from Serpentine Lake for Spring Lake, finding another water source, regular testing of water quality and monitoring water levels.
Ms Phillips assured people that taking water from the Serpentine Lake would lower water levels only to where they had been prior to recent rains.
She thanked people for their patience while lake restoration works were under way.
