An independent commissioner will consider seven submissions lodged on the Central Otago District Council's proposal to construct a two-million-litre water reservoir on the Sugarloaf hill formation, near Cromwell.
The reservoir would service a growing Pisa Moorings community and be situated on a side of the Sugarloaf where gold sluicing was done.
Five submissions opposed the plan, while two neither supported nor opposed it.
As the council applied to itself for consent to undertake the project, it will appoint an independent commissioner to preside over a hearing - a date for which has yet to be confirmed.
Council staff hope to schedule the hearing for late November or early December.
The council's application stated the reservoir was needed to eventually connect Pisa subdivisions to the Cromwell town water supply and secure a supply up to national standards.
It stated there was no other appropriate site the reservoir could be located near Pisa Moorings.
Water is now supplied to Pisa households from three different schemes, which lack the capacity for predicted growth and do not provide appropriate water pressure.
Quality is not guaranteed and the supplies are deemed insecure.
Different ownership and management of private water schemes is also causing problems with the proposed New Zealand drinking water standards.
A new reservoir would sit on private land owned by Pisa Cove Ltd, on a sloping section of the Sugarloaf terrace, across State Highway 6 from the Pisa area.
If built, it would be almost 25m in diameter, 5m high and painted to blend in with the surrounding environment.
It would also be partially buried by earth.
