Eurobodalla Shire Council’s director of infrastructure Warren Sharpe said the lake was opened to “relieve livestock and infrastructure” upstream.

The lake was opened at about 9.15am. 

“It was opened as a result of it reaching its trigger level, it is at about 2.16 metres at the moment and the trigger level is about 2 metres,” Mr Sharpe said on Wednesday morning.

“It will peak at high tide at about 11.30am and, on the outgoing tide, the channel will widen substantially and provide relief for farmers and infrastructure back up the lake catchment.” 

Crews were working for two hours to open the lake. 

“We had certain amounts of pasture and a couple of roads under water,” Mr Sharpe said. 

“Our storm water system was also affected.

“The lake will flow out for about a day-and-a-half to two days before it will start to get closer to its normal level, depending if we get more rain or not.” 

He said it was a good time to open the lake. 

“Hopefully we get some prawns in here for the up-coming summer months for the locals and tourists alike to enjoy,” Mr Sharpe said. 

The lake was last open in August 2015 after a similar weather event. Click here to check it out