The Otago Regional Council will seek government funding support to help combat the aquatic plant pest lagarosiphon in Lake Dunstan, and elsewhere in Otago.
At a council regulatory committee meeting yesterday, councillors directed chairman Stephen Woodhead to approach relevant government ministers to gain more resources to help counter the pest.
Cr Michael Laws, of Cromwell, yesterday urged the council to take a stronger, more proactive role in fighting lagarosiphon in Lake Dunstan.
''It's critical that the ORC takes the lead on this,'' he said.
A report by council environmental monitoring and operations director Scott MacLean included details of three collaborative lagarosiphon management plans, for Lake Dunstan, Lake Wanaka and the Kawarau River, which had been drafted by Niwa for Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
The report noted that, with regards to Lakes Dunstan and Wanaka, Linz represented the Crown as owner of the lake beds.
Linz was the lead agency and was responsible for management of the lake beds and associated pest-control programmes.
Mr Woodhead told councillors the council had been asked to do more but ''we need to be careful'' about the council's role.
Several government departments and agencies, including Doc and Linz had ''some responsibility'' for Otago lakes, and those bodies should also contribute further to collaborative efforts to reduce the lagarosiphon problem.
Cr Laws then put forward a motion, backed by the committee, for the council to approach government ministers for further support to help improve the control of lagarosiphon in southern lakes.
Election year could potentially be a fruitful time for the council to be making its case, he said.
