But that enjoyment is dulled by the seemingly ever-lurking blue-green algae choking what should be beautiful, safe and clean lakes.

It didn't reflect well on Canberra that a contestant in The Amazing Race's final episode filmed in Canberra vomited not long after swallowing a mouthful of Lake Burley-Griffin's water.

We shouldn't need to check health warnings before getting too close to the city's lakes and they should be healthy to promote the growth of sea life.

This week the ACT government announced yet another project designed to fight the scourge of blue-green algae in Lake Tuggeranong: through floating wetlands installed in one of the inlets in the hope of competing with the algae and suppressing the algae.

In making the announcement, ACT Water Minister Shane Rattenbury said his goal was to see people swimming in the lake. Many Tuggeranong locals would baulk at such an idea with the lake in its current state.

The wetlands, which includes plants such as rushes, are floated on recycled plastic that have a UV coating that stops it from breaking down in the water.

The floating structures have been secured with cables to the nearby shore to stop the wetlands from drifting away.

Government officials say such measures have been used successfully in other parts of Australia and overseas, and the two-year experiment would cost $270,000.

It is yet another bill in the seemingly endless fight against blue-green algae at Canberra's lakes - a fight where the bills seem to boom as the algae blooms.

More than $30 million has been spent by governments and environment groups on fighting blue-green algae at Lake Tuggeranong alone.

It would be easy to say such spending is frivolous and poorly aimed, but it is too simplistic to say previous projects have failed.

University of Canberra researcher Fiona Dyer likens fighting algae to vacuuming a house - doing it once doesn't mean it never has to be done again. She also points out urban catchment areas are more prone to developing issues with algae.

ACT Healthy Waterways program manager Ralph Ogden said this week the new wetlands will not be a single solution - in fact no single solution to the problem exists.

Canberrans understand government must trial new solutions, and take risks where necessary, but every government dollar spent must be justified and results are needed.

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