There are five conditions precedent in the spotlight today - ranging from an increased amount of water sales uptake, environmental management, to a long-winded land exchange matter.
Ahead of the meeting, council chairman Rex Graham said while he felt some of the recommendations before council were a "step in the right direction" - they still did not convince him the scheme would be a good investment.
"But none of this goes to the heart of my objection to investing $80 million in a project that will not give us a fair return on our investment."
In a meeting last week, Mr Graham proclaimed he would vote against every resolution "that spends one more dollar on this project".
Councillor Fenton Wilson was more positive yesterday, saying there seemed to be a lot more clarity around the conditions precedent, and "a little more confidence around the table".
When asked if council agreeing to these recommendations could be seen as a step toward progressing the dam, Mr Wilson - a staunch dam supporter - said it was.
However the former chairman said it should not be underestimated how hard "tying the final strands" together before financial close would be.
"Financial close has got a lot of moving parts still to finalise going forward," he said.
"Every day that we're still in the game is a step closer and that's encouraging but there's a lot of things to be done yet."
The emphasis of today's discussion is expected to be on the recommended new condition precedent relating to environmental issues raised in the review - being a review of the scheme's existing environmental management package.
One of the major criticisms of the scheme has been around concerns of the environmental impact it would have - the review highlighted a number of environmental issues, and risks relating to the scheme.
Councillor Paul Bailey said he felt the review had shown sorting out issues in the Tukituki Catchment Plan - Plan Change 6 - should take priority over progressing the scheme.
Although he understood "the community wants us to make a decision one way or the other" on the scheme, the current council had to try and fix "the mess" relating to this change created by the previous council.
A paper before council noted it could choose to undertake more analysis on certain issues before altering the conditions precedent, however this was not recommended because there was already uncertainty within the community about the council's commitment to proceeding with the scheme "should the right conditions exist".
RWSS Conditions Precedent under the spotlight today:
1. RECONFIRMED - Resource Consents: While the condition precedent of workable resource consents was satisfied, this could need reconfirmation depending on an Environment Court declaration on interpretation of the consents conditions.
2. RECONFIRMED - Construction: The condition precedent for a bankable construction contract was deemed to be met last year, but could also require reconfirmation depending if any "material variations" arise before financial close.
3. AMEND - Water Sales: Council is recommended to increase this condition precedent, which was agreed to be met, of water sales uptake from 40 million cu m to 50 million cu m.
4. NEW - Land Exchange: A new condition precedent that the land exchange involving DoC land be resolved before financial close will be recommended to council.
5. NEW - Environmental Management: Council is recommended to add a new condition precedent, which includes a further review of the existing environmental management package for the RWSS, which meets council satisfaction at least two months before financial close.
