Hawke's Bay Regional Council unveiled its Land and Water Management Strategy this week, outlining how it will attempt to address water management in Central Hawke's Bay.
After a second dam site was ruled out by engineering firm Tonkin and Taylor, the council is now focusing on one larger 77m high dam situated on the Makaroro River.
As well as providing irrigation for farmers already in the region, the yet to be confirmed dam will give water access to another 25,000ha of land, boosting the region's economic capacity.
Although the strategy does not provide any further concrete decisions, it defines the goals and how they are to be achieved based on feedback received at the water symposium held in November last year.
"It's very much a management strategy at what approaches we're looking at taking, and having those decisions at the front end of the process," said strategic development group manager Helen Codlin.
She also said the goals outlined will help inform any future planning and, if found to be feasible, the consent process would begin in July next year.
Identified in the strategy are specific priorities for individual areas of Hawke's Bay, as well as a timeline which places dam construction somewhere between December 2014 and March 2017, although Ms Codlin said this may vary depending on how the feasibility and consent stages go.
The estimated volume of the proposed dam is 90 million cubic metres - three times the size of Lake Tutira
The implementation of the strategy is the responsibility of a number of organisations, including the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, mana whenua, the Department of Conservation, Fish and Game, Irrigation NZ, as well as business owners, landowners, and other stakeholders.
The council also acknowledged further work was needed in their research into biodiversity and held a workshop on Tuesday.