Craig Johnson lives next to the most dangerous lake in Australia, according to the latest report from Royal Life Saving.
The report comes as the NSW death toll from coastal drownings reached a record high this summer and after Victoria experienced the highest number of Christmas holiday deaths by drowning in two decades.
Lake Eildon is a man-made water storage in north-eastern Victoria covering 13,800 hectares — six times the size of Sydney Harbour.
Once a city boy, Mr Johnson has been visiting the lake since childhood and now lives beside it at Goughs Bay.
"It's certainly become home," he said.
"Sadly, we've had our fair share of tragedies up here, all of which are preventable.
"As beautiful as the lake is, you've got to have your wits about you."
Released today, Royal Life Saving's report on drowning fatalities in Australian rivers, creeks, lakes and dams identifies the waterways where the greatest number of deaths occur using data from the 10 years to 2021.
There were 924 fatal drownings in inland waterways during that period — more than one-third of the national drowning toll.
Of all locations, rivers are the most dangerous.
The Murray River flowing through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia had the highest toll for the decade with 49 deaths, followed by Melbourne's Yarra River at 27.
Royal Life Saving senior research and policy project officer Katrien Pickles said the report showed there had been little progress towards reducing the annual inland drowning rate.
"Unfortunately, the Murray River continues to be the river where the most drownings are occurring," she said.
Dr Pickles said the same applied at Lake Eildon, where seven people drowned over the decade — the highest number of fatalities of all Australian lakes.
Lake Macquarie and St Georges Basin in NSW were the next highest, with five drowning deaths.
"We're not seeing any downward trends, we know that they're locations that are high risk but they continue to be high risk," Dr Pickles said.
Mecca for fishermen can become 'nightmare'
Mr Johnson is commodore of the Goughs Bay Boat Sport and Recreation Club and observes locals and visitors enjoy the water year-round.
"Lake Eildon is a mecca for fishermen, and obviously in the warmer months waterskiing, wakeboarding, canoeing, sailing, jet skiing, people get their boats out and head out overnight and camp on the banks," he said.
He has also seen tragedies and close-calls unfold first-hand.
This year a 34-year-old man drowned at Lake Eildon in January, and in February a rescue helicopter found two people clinging to a tree in the water after a boat carrying eight people capsized.
"It's so sad to see the loss of life and what it does to the devastated families, not to mention the state emergency service and the police," he said.
"We assist in any way we can, we've got a great rapport with emergency services and in some cases they've utilised our club house as an emergency response point."
Mr Johnson said it was easy to get lost on the lake, and some people were unprepared to navigate such a large body of water.
"We get a lot of calls, even though we're not an emergency service, to assist people who have broken down, to assist people with something as simple as running out of fuel.
"Certainly things like alcohol, fatigue, cold water, hypothermia - all those things, sadly, can create a nightmare."
Dr Pickles said some persistent trends in the research — including the over-representation of men among drowning deaths — indicated advocacy messages were not making an impact.
Among the report's recommendations was the development of local water safety plans.
"So when a local council or local community gets involved with a range of different stakeholders and is able to make a drowning prevention plan," she said.
Goulburn Murray Water manages Lake Eildon and water storage services general manager Martina Cusack said the organisation promoted a "Water Smarts" program as well as safety signage and awareness campaigns.
"We also work with other agencies such as Maritime Safety Victoria to implement appropriate waterway rules," Ms Cusack said.
The State Emergency Service, Victoria Police, Goulburn Murray Water, Life Saving Victoria and Maritime Safety Victoria, the Country Fire Authority, Fire Rescue Victoria and Better Boating Victoria have all been involved in water safety or rescues at the lake.
An SES spokesperson said highly trained crews were often required to assist with water-based rescues at Lake Eildon, along with partner agencies.
