Plans for the 2m-deep, 700m x 70m lake were presented to the Wanaka Community Board yesterday by two members of the Wanaka Water-Ski Club, Mark Williams and Gerald Harraway.
They told the board they had spent seven years considering the idea and believed a piece of Queenstown Lakes District Council land alongside Cameron Creek and near a proposed salmon farm would be ‘‘the perfect site''.
In the club's presentation, Mr Harraway said there were already several water-ski lakes in New Zealand.
He believed the club could fund the Albert Town project and make it available to the public, coaches and professional skiers, and it could be used for national events.
It would be suitable for slalom and trick skiing and would have a 2m-high floating jump.
Mr Williams, a two-times United States national collegiate champion originally from Greymouth, said the club had 40 members and used Parkins Bay in Lake Wanaka for its slalom course.
However, there was a lot of boat traffic and it was becoming impossible to train on calm water even early in the morning and late at night.
It would also not be safe to have a jump positioned on the lake.
If built, the new lake would be used by one ‘‘heavily muffled'' boat at a time.
Mr Harraway told the board the noise from the boat would be about 48 decibels at 100m, not much higher than the ambient noise level and less than a car using nearby State Highway 6.
The land was in a flood zone and could not be built on, he said, but the club needed only a small portable building, a dock and a boat storage area.
Much of the surrounding land could continue to be grazed.
The club hoped the council might allow it rent-free use of the site.
