by Carla Caruso

Visitors to the revamped Rymill Park Lake would’ve been surprised to find it again without water over the past few weeks.

The lake at Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14) had been reopened in April 2024 after undergoing a $6 million upgrade, co-funded by the City of Adelaide and the State Government.

The rejuvenation was intended to improve the environment of the lake and its park surrounds and make its maintenance more cost-effective for the council.

Fences around it came down just in time for the 2024 Adelaide Equestrian Festival, with the lake being a critical part of its cross-country course.

*The drained Rymill Park Lake and the work underway. Photo: Loïne Sweeney.* *(Main photo, top, also by Loïne.)*

*APA’s Park 11 Ambassador Loïne Sweeney.*

However, since then, additional work to the waterway has needed to be completed.

This has included finessing its major new filtering system, adding links to the wetland in the adjacent park, and creating a raingarden bordering the lake.

Park 11 Ambassador Loïne Sweeney, who leads our guided walks in the nearby Botanic Garden and Botanic Park, was among those to be surprised to find the lake drained when she visited the area last week.

“I had gone to Rymill Park to do a recce for a walk planned with my apartment neighbours, as we enjoy monthly residents’ walks together.

“I had previously read that the lake had been fully rehabilitated, and I thought spring would be a great time to enjoy a serene walk around the revamped Rymill Park and its lake.

“So, I was quite surprised when I arrived to find the lake drained, lots of building equipment in use, and a hive of noisy building and gardening activity underway.

“The workers told me that because the new filtering system wasn’t yet fully functional, there’s been quite a large algae outbreak in the lake. So, they had to completely drain it to remove the algae while the effective operation of the filtering system was sorted.”

*The filter system, alongside the raingarden, needed further work to effectively clean the lake’s water. Photo: Loïne Sweeney.*

The innovative raingarden, along the northern boundary of the lake, is also now nearing completion.

A raingarden is a specially designed garden bed that collects water runoff from hard surfaces, such as paved walkways, to better use rain by keeping it onsite and filtering it before it moves on.

This will assist the separate council project, funded by Green Adelaide, to clean up Botanic Creek as it makes its way into the Botanic Garden.

The decision to drain the lake a fortnight ago was also due to further works needing to be undertaken before the 2025 equestrian event, according to a City of Adelaide spokesperson.

“We had needed to open up the lake for the event [last April], not to look pretty but because it’s a fundamental requirement of a cross-country course, and that was the lead-in to the Olympics,” the spokesperson said.

“So, as an Olympic qualifier, they needed that water element of their jump to be able to make it work. But we were pushed for time, and we had to prioritise some of the works, and this is the next opportunity that we could get back in to complete those works.”

*The filter system is adjacent to an innovative rain garden, which helps clean the water. Photo: Loïne Sweeny.*

This included adding a sand curb to retain sand in the southern end of the lake, where the horses run.

“It was an improvement that we could make relatively easily, which would significantly improve the event,” the spokesperson said.

“There’s no way of getting around the fact that you have to empty the lake and it’s not looking like a lake while you’re working within it.

“[However] it wasn’t a sustainable issue because the water we salvaged and other things. So, it was just more about the timing around doing the works.

“Now that the work has been completed and it’s filling back up, we expect it to be back to a public asset, and how it’s supposed to be, from late next week [the week starting 4 November].”

A revamp of the park’s 1960s kiosk should also start soon. The kiosk will be run by the team behind Hindley Street venue Peter Rabbit, with the plans including a return of rowboats for hire.