Farmers are welcoming the completion of a final feasibility report on a large-scale water storage project in Central Hawke's Bay.
The report, which was presented to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council on Wednesday, shows the Ruataniwha Project would be financially, technically, and environmentally feasible.
Planners are proposing a single large dam on the Makaroro River, to provide irrigation water for 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of farm land, on the Ruataniwha Plain.
The council has until the end of next month to decide whether to take the project to the resource consent stage.
The chairman of a stakeholder group, hill country farmer, Sam Robinson, says it's a significant move in the right direction.
