The new "notice of direction" was with the Otago Regional Council's solicitors to ensure it was robust, regional services group manager Jeff Donaldson said at a recent council committee meeting.
If the "notice of direction", which would compel landowners to implement a rabbit management plan, was approved, there was already one landowner it could be issued to, he said.
"There are two others reaching the point."
Farmers could be issued with the notice if they failed to carry out a management plan to control rabbits.
Then, under the notice, if they again failed to implement a plan, the council would consider prosecution.
"Prosecution is a last resort, as it does not kill any rabbits," Mr Donaldson said this week.
The tool was part of the council's new regional pest management strategy, which required farmers to keep rabbit numbers below a lower level than in past years.
It was being implemented in a season where it had been acknowledged rabbit levels were at their highest in years.
In rabbit-prone areas, levels were higher than in pre-virus days, Mr Donaldson said.
While the effect of the virus had not been seen before Christmas, the rainfall late in the year meant it had been seen in recent weeks.
"We're now seeing the impact of the virus out there."
Many young rabbits had survived and they would begin breeding shortly.
Just how severe the rabbit problem had become this season would not be known until March, he said.
The council's night counts were not showing the full picture, as they were on properties where landowners were carrying out good control work.
"We may have to look outside [those areas]."
There were also concerns about the use of pindone to control rabbit numbers, as some landowners were using it at times of the year when it was not very effective.
While it would kill a small number of rabbits, it had the potential to create "bait-shy" rabbits and a "big problem" in the future, Mr Donaldson said.
"We're concerned people are using the bait at the time of the year when rabbits only sample it and not eat it like they do when they're hungry [in the winter]."
Cr Sam Neill said it was of real concern and needed to be brought to landowners' attention, especially those lifestyle-block owners who used pindone extensively.
"A lot of farmers think they're doing a great job, but they could be having a negative result."
