The main opponents of the proposed Central Plains Water scheme in Canterbury say the irrigation plan can't go ahead without the entire resource consent process being repeated.
The commissioners hearing the consent applications say they are unlikely to grant all the consents required for the scheme, which is proposed to irrigate 60,000 hectares of Canterbury farmland.
The commissioners, appointed by Selwyn District Council and Environment Canterbury, have indicated they will reject consents to build the dam and reservoir.
But Central Plains Water says it can still go ahead without resource consent for storage options.
Central Plains Water says it still wants to go ahead with getting consent to take the water from the Waimakiriri and Rakaia Rivers and will explore other storage options.
But the Malvern Hills Protection Society says without each specific consent, the scheme has to be drastically changed.
And the group says any changes should mean new consent applications would have to be made.
A hearing on the issue has been scheduled for May.
Consents refused
The commissioners considering the resource applications for the Central Plains Water Scheme announced on Friday they are unlikely to grant consent for the storage part of the proposed $400 million irrigation scheme.
Central Plains Water applied for a number of resource consents to build a large-scale irrigation scheme that would take enough water from the Waimakiriri and Rakaia rivers to irrigate 60,000 hectares of farmland.
But the commissioners announced the consents related to the construction of the dam and reservoir, and the associated intake and tunnel, would not be granted.
That means the scheme cannot go ahead as proposed, and the commissioners say they are likely to reject the remaining consents because it was presented as an integrated package.
Consents relating to the storage aspect of the project would have flooded about 14 farms.
