Local government areas such as the Loddon and Buloke shires are being forced to keep families away from the water as the days begin to warm up for summer.

Buloke Shire interim chief executive Hannah Yu said some pools would have to close quickly with no staff to supervise them.

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"We have had to reluctantly informed residents of Birchip, Sea Lake, and Watchem, often at short notice, the closure of pools due to pool lifeguard unavailability in recent weeks," she said.

Belgravia Leisure Loddon area manager Rod Simms said on a normal year, there would be no trouble staffing pools in the district.

"As a general rule, we retain 60-65 per cent of staff from one summer to the next," he said.

"This is usually enough to cover the base rosters for the start of the season and we then recruit new staff and have them complete Pool Lifeguard and Austswim courses which then top up the team to ensure we have a successful summer.

"We are still about eight lifeguards short at the moment, with a number of courses scheduled over the next few weeks we hope this will provide enough qualified staff to open all sites and have a successful remainder of the summer.

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"We've been working hard each day to try and get additional staff from Bendigo, Swan Hill and Melbourne."

Mr Simms said there were a number of factors causing these issues.

"There are a whole range of COVID-19 related issues that are creating workforce issues right across rural communities and an industry wide shortage of staff," he said.

"This is further compounded by the late and long harvest and vaccine mandates impacting the availability of workforce."

Ms Yu said it was important to make the positions as enticing as possible.

"Council is trying to be proactive, offering to provide training for suitable candidates who do not currently hold a Lifeguard Certificate in an effort to draw casual summer job seekers to the pool," she said.

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"We also want to raise awareness about the flexibility the work offers, which can lead to other job opportunities with transferrable skills such as: communication and teamwork and community engagement.

"Since opening the pool season on November 17, council has promoted them as "one of the coolest jobs in Buloke" for its positive and fun environment to work in - where children, parents and people of all ages go to kick back and splash around.

"There are also some positives in this the staff shortages are also a reflection of the great year our agricultural industries are having with many casuals otherwise taking up harvest jobs."

Anyone wanting to express interest can do so online at belgravialeisure.com.au/simply-the-best- summer-jobs or contact the Buloke Shire.

Applicants must be 16 years of age and have the ability to swim 200m, as well as the ability to obtain a Working with Children Check.

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