Millions of dollars have already been poured into properties in the Omarama-Ohau areas which two development companies want to turn into nine dairy farms housing up to 10,850 cows.
Southdown Holdings Ltd and Williamson Holdings Ltd are in the process of trying to obtain resource consents for Glen Eyrie Downs and part of Killermont Station to turn them into dairy farms.
A director of both companies, Richard Peacocke said they had already invested six years "and several million dollars" buying land, researching, planning and evaluating the feasibility and potential of the dairy farms.
That included $2 million spent on Glen Eyrie Downs between 2007 and last year removing wilding pines from 1200 ha.
If the two companies did not get go ahead for the dairy farms, "we would have expended considerable capital and the farms will be in a difficult position".
The two developments were "heavily capital intensive" and required considerable investment up front.
"It is for this reason that we need to intensively utilise the farm as a whole," he said.
Details of the investment and the situation the companies face are contained in evidence presented by Mr Peacocke to an Environment Canterbury (ECan) hearings panel of three commissioners which is considering applications for water from Lake Ohau and the Ahuriri River, vital for the dairy farm developments.
The two companies are before the panel putting their case for water.
They will also need effluent and odour discharge and other consents for the dairy farms.
Those applications have been set down for hearing in Christchurch on 16 days spread over four weeks starting from Wednesday, March 10.
Those consents have attracted more than 5200 public submissions because plans to house the cows in cubicles all-day between March and October and 12 hours a day between November and February led to claims of "factory farming".
Mr Peacocke, in his evidence, said Southdown Holdings and Williamson Holdings were to provide an investment opportunity in agriculture for a "group of New Zealanders based in Australia".
It bought the 2135ha Glen Eyrie Downs more than five years ago and had a contract to purchase 1200ha of Killermont Station, subject to gaining consents to take water for irrigation.
On Glen Eyrie Downs, the company had been through an extensive process to determine the most viable farming operation, concluding irrigated dairy farms were the answer.
On 2000ha, the six individual dairy farms would each employ between three and four permanent staff, with appropriate infrastructure on each farm.
On the Killermont block, 1100ha would be irrigated and a total of up to 12 people would be employed on the three dairy farms.
Mr Peacocke said if water was not granted, Williamson Holdings would not buy the Killermont block and the future for Glen Eyrie Downs would likely be an amalgamation with adjoining farms to make it viable, possibly for forestry.
"Granting resource consents presents a unique opportunity to make these land block highly productive and create a positive economic benefit to [the two companies] and the district," he said.
