The company behind Canterbury's controversial Central Plains Water Scheme expects there to be fewer opponents to its plans from now on.

Central Plains Water yesterday announced plans to get more of the job done sooner, as it works toward its target to irrigate 60,000 hectares of land.

CEO Derek Crombie says by doing that, the company's managed to eliminate a number of environmental concerns.

"As far as people who were previously objecting, the majority were against the idea of a storage reservoir, and that reservoir is no longer required because we have access to storage from Lake Coleridge."