Lake Camp Water Levels Improve – But ‘Still Quite Low’

Friday, 11 April 2025, 8:49 pm
Article: Jonathan Leask - Local Democracy Reporter

There have been plenty of quiet days at Lake Camp in Canterbury with the water level “still quite low”.

Clearwater Aquatic Club president Tony Moore said the lake hasn't drained away, but it hasn’t been topped up to its “normal level” either.

“It’s been better than it was this time last year, but it is still quite low.

“We are hoping for a bit of rain and some snow through winter or else we might lose it.”

After missing the annual club championships for the first time last year due to the “dangerously low levels”, the club was able to hold the two-day event this summer.

Moore said this time it was the Norwest wind that proved the big issue, but it was “great to have people out on the lake, doing what we do”.

“But we still had to be very careful.”

Community concerns about the diminishing lake levels led to a push for the reinstatement of a diversion of water from Balmacaan Stream to top the lake up.

The consent for the diversion was surrendered by Fish and Game in 2020, and ECan was adamant that reestablishing a diversion required a new resource consent.

The Ashburton District Council voted not to pursue a resource consent for the diversion, which could have cost ratepayers almost $1 million and had no guarantee of success.

During the debates around what to do at the lake, retired hydrologist John Waugh had told the Ashburton Water Zone Committee that his expert opinion was “the most useful thing you could do is do nothing".

In the end, that is what has happened, and the lake remains low for now.

At the end of August last year, Lake Camp’s water level was at 5.238m.

It rose to around 6.5m in December, and it was still sitting at around 6.4m through January.

More recently, the lake was up above the 6m mark at the start of March but has steadily dropped to 5.8 this week.

Moore said the recent drop has been quite noticeable, but heading into winter, the wetter months would hopefully turn that around.

He said they were keeping a close eye on the situation at Lake Hood, which has had algal bloom problems for a third straight summer, highlighting their ongoing concerns for the Lake Camp's future health if the levels remain low or get even lower.

While Lake Camp is a natural lake with a small deep centre, the algal blooms and other water quality issues can occur in the shallower, stagnant parts around the edges, Moore said.

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