THE Lord Mayor admits that the accidental draining of Torrens Lake overnight is an appalling embarrassment - but says it's unlikely to be refilled without rain.
The once-scenic lake is today a stinking mud hole after it was drained of millions of litres of water overnight when an electrical fault opened the weir gates.
Adelaide City Council staff were forced to manually wind the weir shut but levels had already dropped by more than two metres and the water was rushing into the sea.
Despite a range of festivals over the coming months – including the The Fringe, Womadelaide and the Clipsal 500 – Lord Mayor Michael Harbison says Adelaide may have to put up with the mudflats over its peak tourism period.
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[email protected]"It's very embarrassing and we obviously wish it hadn't happened," Mr Harbison said.
"We'd love to have water, but I just don't think they'd (SA Water) give us water for this."
Mr Harbison says some may see it as being irresponsible amid water restrictions to refill the Torrens from the Kangaroo Creek reservoir in the Adelaide Hills.
"And there would be those who might see it was worse to use water to do this rather than waiting for rain ... but I suspect we have no choice other than to wait for rain."
Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said the draining of the Torrens Lake would not spoil our festival season and should be viewed as a good opportunity to clean up the lake bed.
"This incident is regrettable – there would never be a good time for something like this to happen – but the reality is there's been no loss of lives and, in a week when we've had massive fires and tragedy across the nation, we can work with this and live with it," she said.
"I think this is a great opportunity for the Adelaide City Council.
"It is unplanned and they would not have chosen for this to happen but as we have lost water from the Torrens Lake it is a great opportunity to clean up the bed and I'm sure council will be working on remedial activities.
"I do not intend to talk down our major events season."
Dr Lomax-Smith did, however, warn people against exploring the lake bed.
"It's not a good time for people to go out and collecting bottles or walking on the mud, it's extremely dangerous. There's a significant risk if people do go out in those areas they will get into some difficulty.
"We do know this is unsightly but we're not going to let this spoil our events period . . . We don't want to talk down our events season.'
Tonnes of rubbish exposed
Parts of the lake are entirely without water, revealing tonnes of rubbish - including bikes, a car body and witches' hats - on the bottom of the lake.
Police from the Water Recovery unit attended and were expected to investigate the car, still half submerged in water. AdelaideNow understands they chose not to enter the water due to concerns about its toxicity.
"The lake is unlikely to refill until water flows from the catchment area upstream following a rainfall event," the council said in a statement.
"The higher sections of the lake have been the worst-affected, with the bottom of the lake now visible in several locations.''
Council environmental officers will assess the lake this morning to determine the overall impact on the lake and areas surrounding it.
