Exactly one year ago, Griffith woke to find the shores of Lake Wyangan lined with thousands of fish carcasses.

Bony bream, yellow belly perch, Murray cod and carp were strewn along the lake's banks, as residents and politicians questioned how such a catastrophic event was allowed to occur.

Local state member Helen Dalton immediately placed blame on Griffith City Council, saying the local government had allowed the water quality in the lake to deteriorate.

A report from the NSW Department of Primary Industries suggested the lake's water quality was unlikely to have caused the incident and instead it was likely the result of disturbances to sulfidic sendiment caused by recent inflows into the lake.

Two months after the mass fish death, Tom Mackerras was appointed project officer to council's Lake Wyangan and catchment management committee.

Mr Mackerras remembers the fish death as "a disappointing day", but he says he is confident the lake is slowly but surely improving and another fish death is "fairly unlikely" to happen again.

The project officer said the fish death was a catalyst which shifted the committee's approach to managing the lake.

"As a result of the fish kill I think there was a bit of a re-focus on what the issues were," Mr Mackerras said.

"It certainly expanded the focus. It's not just dealing with the blue-green algae, it's deal with the algae, the salinity levels, the water levels, and how to better manage the fish and the overall ecosystem of the lake."

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At the time of the fish death, the lake's water level was the lowest it had been in "20 or 25 years", Mr Mackerras said.

But one year later, the lake is completely full and Mr Mackerras says maintaining that level is key to improving the water quality going forward.

According to the project officer, the higher water level will dilute nutrients and salts in the water and prevent wind from disturbing sediment in the lake.

The committee has also removed hundreds of ecosystem-destroying european carp from the lake.

"It is a long-term thing, but I think we're heading in the right direction," Mr Mackerras said.

"One would anticipate another fish kill is fairly unlikely but given the changing climate conditions, lower water levels and all these sorts of issues you can never say never."

"It's going to be an unlikely problem but also one we need to keep in our minds at all times."

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