Dairy farms are still top of the agenda for three companies who want to develop them in the Omarama and Ohau areas - if they can get water approved.
The companies' lawyer, Christian Whata, has made it clear developing 16 dairy farms with up to 17,850 cows in cubicle stables continuously from March to October and up to 12 hours a day from November to February is the "preferred option".
Southdown Holdings, Williamson Holdings and Five Rivers Ltd earlier this month withdrew resource consents applications to store and discharge dairy effluent from the farms after they found it could cost them more than $3 million for a board of inquiry set up by Minister for the Environment Nick Smith.
The companies were not prepared to risk that cost when they did not know whether they had water approved for irrigation and diluting effluent.
That led to some in the media suggesting the dairy-farm plan had been scrapped, but the companies have made it clear that is not the case, if they can get water they need.
It also led to questions from an Environment Canterbury (ECan) panel at present sitting in Christchurch to hear and make decisions on the companies' water resource consent applications.
Last month, the companies put alternatives to the dairy farms before the ECan panel, if the panel had concerns about the stable dairy farming, but also made it clear they preferred dairying.
After they withdrew the effluent applications, the ECan panel chairman Paul Rogers asked if that was "a signal that the dairy-farm system proposed ... is no longer to be pursued".
Mr Whata replied the companies had decided there was little or no point pursuing the effluent applications without first having a decision on water and nutrient issues, and the economic security that water use consents would have.
"I also record that dairy farms with stables is still the preferred farming method," he said.
"It may ultimately become feasible for the applicants to re-lodge the effluent applications if they have the financial security of a grant of water."
He pointed out the companies found themselves in the same position as other applicants in Canterbury for water - first seeking a determination of their water take before considering the end-use effluent applications.
The companies wanted the panel to determine the water applications for all of the farming alternatives they were considering.