A council newsletter in December 2016 stated the council reached agreement with most of the landowners whose land the 34km Oamaru to Hampden pipeline would be on.
The council project was to deliver Oamaru drinking water to communities in Herbert, Waianakarua, Hampden and Moeraki, to meet government standards, via the 34km pipeline.
A council spokeswoman refused to specify the exact number of people still to give approval for their land to be used for the pipeline, simply saying the council was ''negotiating with some of the remaining landowners''.
Council water services and waste manager Martin Pacey said ''approximately 40'' people had given approval to date. He said the project would not be stopped by the undisclosed number of people still to say ''yes''.
He said the council reached access agreements for the pipeline with some landowners where appropriate but the agreements did not involve any financial compensation.
Despite not having approval from all landowners affected yet, the council still planned to tender for the pipeline installation project later this month.
''Negotiations are well advanced and will not impact on the tendering process.
''We either have or will have permission from all landowners to lay the pipeline. Some of the pipe will be laid on the road reserve, as not all privately owned land is suitable.''
He said the council would get approval from all affected landowners before construction on the pipeline began.
The newsletter said work on the pipeline was expected to start in late March 2017 and the pipeline should be operational in early 2018.
