The Revive Lake Cathie president says she remains hopeful about the lake's future after separate meetings with the Member of Port Macquarie and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's general manager.
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The face-to-face meetings have come after the lake received no funding in council's 2019-20 operational plan, announced at council's June meeting.
Danielle Maltman labelled both meetings as positive. She was thankful to Leslie Williams MP and council's general manager Craig Swift-McNair for giving their time to the committee.
The Revive Lake Cathie group formed in 2019 after growing concern about the evaporating lake, water quality and its future.
Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams said the issue of the lake is very complex and won't be resolved overnight, following the meeting where she heard the group's concerns.
"This week's rain has been very welcome, but clearly we will we need a lot more to see the lake restored," she said.
Mrs Maltman said rain isn't the only thing which is going to fix the ongoing issues at the lake.
Mrs Maltman said the Revive Lake Cathie group members are currently conducting research pods 'based on months of investigation'.
The group is planning on focusing their next research pod on the marine life at the lake. It comes after more dead fish were found at the lake this week, which reportedly included an endangered species.
Mrs Maltman said unfortunately young children are witnessing the impact of the lake's quality on marine life.
Revive Lake Cathie presented more than 700 submissions in response to the council's 2019-20 draft operational plan.
The submissions represented a collaboration of the group's volunteer research supported by 787 submissions from concerned community members.
Going forward, Mrs Maltman said it's important the group works collaboratively with both council and the state government to guarantee a solution for the long term.
At Mr Swift-McNair's invitation, the Revive Lake Cathie committee will have a board meeting next week.
The council started a process in May in a bid to address the crisis facing the ailing waterway of Lake Cathie.
The council will review the Lake Cathie Opening Strategy in consultation with National Parks and Wildlife Service, Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Fisheries and Department of Industry, and the community including Revive Lake Cathie.
An update report is due to come back to the September council meeting.
