Lake Tuggeranong has been closed to swimming twice because of blue-green algae outbreaks already this year, with the lake closing at least once a year since 2002.
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Data from the ACT environment directorate shows 2016 was an unusually unhealthy year for the lake, with five closures due to blue-green algae outbreaks.
Ann Kennedy, from the Tuggeranong Lake Carers, has called on Canberrans to join the Lake Carers on Sunday for Clean Up Australia Day.
"The previous one we did we had the most volunteers in the ACT," Ms Kennedy said.
"There are just so many people who make use of the lake. If they want to be there and enjoy it, they can do a little to help make it a nice place."
Tuggeranong residents Rees and Kerry Bunker were concerned about how diligent the government was being in maintaining the health of the lakes.
A few days before Christmas, Mr Bunker noticed one of the traps near the lake had filled with rubbish, soil and what appeared to be an animal carcass.
"It was the size of a dog," Mrs Bunker said. "It stunk."
After several complaints to Access Canberra, workers cleaned up the traps in February, without telling Mr Bunker, who said the build up at the traps was a contributing factor to algae outbreaks.
The husband and wife couple are kayakers and moved from interstate to Canberra in 2016 specifically to be by Lake Tuggeranong.
"There's a lot of people who use the lake and who would use it more often if it wasn't closed due to high level blue-green algae," Mr Bunker said.
Lake Tuggeranong has closed to swimming at least once a year since 2002, closing twice in 2004, 2011, 2012 and 2014. By comparison, Lake Ginninderra in Belconnen has only closed to swimming ten times since 2002 and three times in 2016.
ACT Healthy Waterways program manager Justin Foley said the infrastructure around Lake Tuggeranong was designed 40 years ago to improve flood management, which could quickly rush pollutants into the lake, but the government was learning to better manage the systems.
"The majority of pollutants arrive from human activity," Mr Foley said.
The developments around Lake Tuggeranong had driven nutrient rich waste, like soil, into the lake, which led to outbreaks.
"At the end of the day it is really about the behaviour of the community: what we do in our catchments, around our suburbs."
Volunteers for Clean Up Australia Day can help clean up Lake Tuggeranong between 10am - 1pm on Sunday, March 4. People can register via the Clean Up Australia Day website or go to the Tuggeranong Scout Hall or the rowing shed under the Tuggeranong Library on Sunday morning.
