THE Mallee Eagles’ efforts to get the Lalbert Recreation Reserve ready for the club’s opening home game next month have received a boost.
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water granted the club an exemption to water the reserve’s main oval earlier this month following lobbying during the escalating Murray River blue-green algae outbreak.
Lalbert, like many other towns who rely on stock and domestic water being pumped from the Murray River, is on Stage 2 water restrictions, which meant the club could not access water to prepare the venue for its first home game on April 16 against Balranald.
Club chairman, Geoff Kendell raised the club’s concerns at a community meeting regarding the area’s water situation, with further discussions leading to the granting of the exemption.
“We had an inspection of the ground on March 19, and little shoots were growing on patches of the ground that formed when we could not get water on the ground after the 42 degree days we had earlier in the month,” he said.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, as the pump can still be turned off at any time.”
If the situation deteriorates, the Eagles will look to switch its opening home match against Balranald to Greenham Park, with the return meet on July 16 to occur at Lalbert.
However, if the matter becomes a long-term issue, the club would need to liaise with neighbouring clubs who would be happy to enable the Eagles to use their venue for games.
“The unfortunate thing with this type of scenario is that as a club, we would like to get our finances going at the start of the season,” Kendell said.
