Federal member for Calare John Cobb had initially proposed the dam as a worthwhile project before the state government announced it would fund a feasibility and scoping study earlier this year. 

The proposal is to build a 90,000 megalitre dam along the river at Needles Gap to secure the region’s water. 

Mr Cobb said he believed the “feds should chip in” and it was a promising sign, that the project had been signalled in the paper, that funding would ensue. 

“Obviously interest from anywhere is quite good and the new Deputy Premier Troy Grant, well he strongly believes in the project,” Mr Cobb said. 

“Andrew Stoner had set aside not only the money for the scoping study and in-depth study but he triggered the rest of it with the sale of the poles and wires,” he said. 

The cost of the project is an estimated $150 million for the initial construction and the announcement was made about the same time as the state government said it would sell-off 49 per cent of its electricity infrastructure. 

Federal agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce said the dam projects flagged in the green paper would be paid for by a mix of private funds and government money.

“I think the Prime Minister has made it quite clear that we shouldn’t have a ‘dam phobia’, to use his lexicon.

“This is an issue that the Australian people want us to take the next step.”

The Needles Gap dam proposal has been strongly opposed by environmental groups that argue dams are an out-dated source of water security and the Needles Gap site is home to limestone caves which have significant scientific value. 

nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au