[jarofgreen]

Lakes can have currents.

I wonder if pedantically speaking the definition of lake would include non-tidal in many countries but ....

A) humans use names sloppily and if it's an important detail I wouldn't assume a lake is non-tidal without checking.

B) non-tidal bodies of water might still change height over the year, for example after a heavy rainfall.

Mainly I'd question the need to automate it. It's difficult, and in many cases the cost of a human to drive it is tiny compared to all the other costs you need to pay so just do that (as in the article - those weren't automated). Also, driving them can be fun :-)

[eythian]

Rarely (as far as I know), lakes can be tidal in their own way. For example Lake Wakatipu changes by about 10cm every half an hour.