Back in June 2016 Barnaby Joyce made a promise. If re-elected at the coming federal election, he said a coalition government would provide $550,000 to assess the feasibility of damming the Mole River near Tenterfield.
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More than three years - and another election victory - later, the government has announced work will begin to investigate building a 100-gigalitre dam on the Mole River.
When the federal goverment made the announcement on the weekend, a much larger amount - $24 million - was assigned to the project.
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"Our hard work is coming to fruition," New England MP Barnaby Joyce said, when he learnt of the funding, as well as a further $480 million to upgrade Dungowan Dam near Tamworth.
"It's not just me, it's the work of the communities and the councils who have been pushing for the upgrade of Dungowan Dam and Mole River.
"Nobody would be announcing dam funding unless we did the homework," he said.
While the federal and NSW coalition governments joined forces to make the announcement, a neighbouring MP in Queensland has taken a shot at that state's Labor government, saying it could become reliant on NSW water.
The announcement prompted Minister for Water Resources, David Littleproud to call on the Queensland Government to take swift action and build dams to avoid becoming dependent on NSW.
Mr Littleproud said the project also had the potential to secure water for Stanthorpe and Warwick if the Queensland Government "had the will".
The Mole River flows into Dumaresq River, which for part of its length defines the NSW/Queensland border and is an important source of water for irrigators in the Border Rivers catchment.
"This is an embarrassment for Queensland," Mr Littleproud said.
"The Queensland Government is going down the path of becoming a dependent state. We are reaching the point where the state cannot and will not provide for its own people.
"Queensland can't just depend on siphoning NSW dry.
"I applaud the NSW Government for finally coming to the table with real ideas for water security.
"Sadly we haven't seen the same on the Queensland side of the border. We have Emu Swamp Dam in Stanthorpe ready to go, we just need the Palaszczuk Government's approvals."
