Unseasonably early algal blooms infecting Lake Tuggeranong have wreaked havoc on the south side community restricting activities and causing the cancellation of annual community events.
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Cautious organisers called off free sailing and canoeing at Saturday's Tuggeranong Festival and the November CarpOut Fishing competition has been postponed until March 2016.
Tuggeranong Sea Scouts leader Michelle Taylor said the smelly lake was regularly closed for periods over the summer but September's outbreak of Tychonema algae, coming far earlier than usual, meant scouts had been left high and dry most of the term.
"The closures this year came before our sailing season had even begun," she said.
"It affects the kids' programmes and their morale. Normally we get to about December or January and then it closes and we'd have had a month or so of activity."
Halfway through the 10-week term Ms Taylor said groups had been able to go out on the water on five of the 25 scheduled occasions.
The ACT Government lifted the health hazard alert reopening several areas of Lake Tuggeranong to swimming and boating on Wednesday this week.
Restrictions have been in place at Lake Tuggeranong for 91 days so far this year and on 84 days use of the lake was entirely banned due to water quality concerns.
Navigating weeks of contamination risk Ms Taylor said increased supervision had been critical to ensure Sea Scouts obeyed restrictions and staff could respond quickly and wash off anyone that went in.
Planning week to week according to the water quality updates had been a headache but Sea Scout leaders were always on the lookout and had cancelled activities after seeing sludgy water even when the lake was open for use.
Tuggeranong Community Council Secretary and organiser of CarpOut, Paul Nicholl, said the sustained closure had changed the community's attitude toward the lake area drastically.
"With so many closures people just expect it's a no-go zone," he said. "The authorities may say it's OK but people aren't willing to take the risk."
Reviving CarpOut as an annual summer event was part of a plan to establish a fun day out for families and share information about waterway and environmental concerns.
"That we've had to cancel makes a glaring point about how our aquatic ecosystems are struggling," Mr Nicholl said.
"Even if things clear up now there just isn't time for all the logistics before Christmas. We have postponed it and hope to hold CarpOut on March 6 which will be Clean Up Australia Day next year."
