Several trees in Wanaka's Pembroke Park are dead or dying for want of water.
Five trees in the park have brown, curled up leaves and much of the grass in the park and alongside Lake Wanaka's shore is brown.
The state of the park and lakefront has sparked criticism from Danial Macdonald, of Luggate.
Mr Macdonald, who was responsible for watering Wanaka's reserves for three years, described the look of the reserves as "third world''.
"It's pretty ridiculous,'' Mr Macdonald said.
"They've got a huge pump station there, on Pembroke Park. It's just a bloody disgrace.''
Queenstown Lakes District Council parks and reserves planning manager Stephen Quinn said he had been told by staff some of the trees were "struggling''.
"I think our arborist has been out to have a look and he's coming up with a plan to address those trees.''
Mr Quinn said the summer had been particularly dry.
The main problem with the irrigation system was the amount of water the council had consent to take from a bore into the Wanaka-Cardrona aquifer.
"We have been applying as much water through the irrigation as is allowed to us by the consent.''
Mr Quinn said the council was "looking at'' the possibility of hooking into the town water supply, which drew water from the lake, to avoid the restrictions imposed by the bore consent.
"Hopefully, in future, we won't have the same restrictions on the park that we currently have.''
He believed the grass on the park would recover.
The ability to irrigate a small part of the park was affected by "an incident'' when the skate park was extended, Mr Quinn said.
