Mr Rainbow was at the meeting last Monday where councillors unanimously supported the motion by Mayor Greg Howard to buy enough water to allow the scheme to proceed.

``It’s absolutely terrific,’’ Mr Rainbow said.

``Our scheme required a 75 per cent take-up to proceed and we were struggling to get the last little bit - most schemes had a 60 per cent threshold, but the Scottsdale scheme was pressurised and more expensive.

``This is the end of eight years of struggle to get an irrigation scheme here and the beauty of it is that, unlike logs that can be put on a truck and carted out of the municipality, the water benefits Dorset from start to finish.

``That’s exactly what the Dorset Economic Development Group set out to do eight years ago, set something up that couldn’t be taken away.’’

Dorset Mayor Greg Howard described the purchase that ensured the scheme reached its 75 per cent threshold, as a ``no brainer’’.

``We’re reasonably confident we’ll be able to get rid of the water we committed to in reasonably short period of time,’’ he said.

``And it’s nearly two years before the scheme’s up and running and we have to pay the final 90 per cent of the $1,75 million cost of the water - it’s 2 per cent on signing the contract and 8 per cent on federal government approval of the scheme.’’

Cr Howard said that the scheme would generate 60 full-time jobs during construction and at least 45 full-time jobs after completion in additional production in the district.