The Murray Darling Basin Authority made the decision in conjunction with Goulburn-Murray water.
MDBA acting executive manager of river management Andrew Kremor said the water level would gradually drop and expose egeria densa weed to the air and winter frosts.
“We’d like to thank the community for their co-operation in our efforts to control the waterweed, which has grown increasingly dense since it was last managed four years ago,” Dr Kremor said.
He said winter was the best time to lower the water level as irrigation and recreational activities were at their quietest.
G-MW water storage services general manager Martina Cusack said the water authority would carry out general maintenance under and around the bridge while the water was lowered, including pylon inspections and erosion repairs.
“We encourage lake residents and water users who draw water directly from the lake to use this time when the lake level is low to inspect and fix their own infrastructure, such as jetties, boat ramps, retaining walls and pipe intakes,” she said.
“We expect to return Lake Mulwala to its regular operating levels by early August, but there is a chance that rain could inundate some of the low-lying parts of the lake before then.
“Anyone visiting or using the lake is advised to take the usual precautions and be aware of the changing conditions around the lake from early May to August.”
Crime writer visits Echuca
Mildura-born crime fiction writer Ruth Morgan will visit Echuca as part of her northern Victoria The Whitworth Mysteries tour.
She will be at Echuca Library in Hare St at 2.30pm on Sunday, June 5, for afternoon tea.
Ruth was the 2000 winner of the Great Clarendon House Writing Challenge and will be signing books at the library.
Her book is based around a Murray River town, like the one she grew up in, its harsh landscape and open spaces.
“I love setting stories in the regional and rural parts of Australia where I grew up. It’s a harsh landscape with vast open spaces, sparse populations, floods, trees, isolation,” she said.
Ruth made a decision to semi retire and take up writing when she had two friends die from cancer and another develop Parkinson’s.
“It made me realise I’d already ‘wasted’ too much time doing things that others expected me to do. It was time to follow my lifelong passion for writing,” she said.