Waipahi farmers, who have been pushing for a rural water scheme of their own, have been given the power to accept a tender so the project can proceed without red tape holding it up.
An extraordinary meeting of the Clutha District Council on Thursday agreed to give the Waipahi area stock water scheme sub-committee authority to accept a tender for the scheme.
Farmers in the area are keen to tap into the Waipahi River to supply water for dairy operations, irrigation and other farm uses.
They have been working with the council for several years on the idea.
Tenders closed in late March.
Figures from that process suggest farmers and scheme consumers will pay about $300 per unit of water, a figure already agreed to by those properties wanting to connect to the new scheme.
Council projects engineer Peter Ross, in a report to the meeting, said the move to grant delegated authority to the sub-committee would allow it to make "substantive decisions" and further the scheme without delay, if it wishes.
The farmers who have signed up to the scheme are the ones paying for it.
