Waipahi farmers who have promised to buy units from a planned new rural water scheme could be tapping into it by this time next year.
After months of planning, the Waipahi area stock water scheme committee has got the backing of a Clutha District Council committee to design and build the scheme without delay. It will cost between $1 million and $1.5 million.
To date, 36 farmers have pledged to buy 611 units from the scheme which will supply stock water only.
The council's district assets committee supported the move this week but believed it should be built to cater for growth.
The farmers want the council to own the scheme. They would pay annual water charges and contribute towards upgrades and maintenance.
In a report accepted by this week's district assets committee meeting, council projects engineer Peter Ross said the committee aimed to have water available at the start of spring 2009 - exactly one year away.
While this was possible, Mr Ross said it caused some problems. The project was a significant one and, as such, needed to be dealt with under the Local Government Act. It was also not included in the long-term council community plan. To include it in the next plan review would mean construction would be delayed until the 2009-10 construction season, effectively delaying the scheme a year.
Working in the scheme's favour, he said, was that all affected parties had been consulted and there was a strong level of financial commitment by those wanting water.
Mr Ross suggested a consultant be employed to do the design work and contractors picked through a registration of interest to help shorten the process.
