Plans for a wetlands at Lawrence are coming together as the groups behind the project await the results of a feasibility study.
The 2.5ha wetlands project was proposed last year and gained support from the Lawrence Tuapeka Community Board on the condition studies on the feasibility of the project were completed.
The proposed site for the wetlands, at the northern entrance of Lawrence, is owned by the Clutha District Council.
Working Waters Trust project manager Sophie Allen is involved with the ecological restoration of the site.
She said the University of Otago had conducted studies on the area to investigate how the land on the site would react to water if it was diverted from the nearby Tuapeka River.
The groups needed to know if the land would hold enough water on its own and whether there was a chance it could flood on to the highway.
"It's about minimising any risk of creating a hazard.''
While the studies would indicate what was possible in the area, the concept plan designed by Geraint Howells, of Creative Intentions, was just an idea at this stage.
Consultations will still need to be held with the local community about what they wanted for the wetland.
The wetland, if it went ahead, would provide an interactive learning environment and ecological habitat for many endangered and at-risk native species of fish, birds and insects, Ms Allen said.
Children were not engaging enough with the outdoors and the wetlands would provide an environment for them to access.
The freshwater lobster, freshwater mussels and Clutha flathead galaxiid fish were some species that could benefit from the wetlands, Ms Allen said.
