A BLUE-green algae alert for Lake Cullulleraine over the popular Australia Day weekend that locals have disputed could have cost the small tourist town up to $100,000, locals claim.

Bushman's Rest Caravan Park owner Paul Freckleton said the algae alert should never have been issued.

He claimed blue-green algae would never bloom in the lake the same way it does in the river, because it's a "total...