Opponents have described an outback Queensland council's plan to build a waterski park as "irresponsible", with the region in its eighth year of drought.

Key points: Mayor Rob Chandler says they want to make rowing an outback sport

Mayor Rob Chandler says they want to make rowing an outback sport Council found a disused bore with a licence for 400 megalitres of water

Council found a disused bore with a licence for 400 megalitres of water Local Indigenous woman Suzanne Thompson says the plan is "irresponsible"

Excavation work has already been completed on a huge lake on the outskirts of Barcaldine, near Longreach in western Queensland, but Barcaldine Regional Council has not yet obtained a water licence to fill it.

Barcaldine Mayor Rob Chandler said he hoped the council would get approval to access a bore to get water to fill the lake.

"It is a long drought, but we are so fortunate here — unlike Warwick and those places, we are so fortunate to be sitting on the artesian basin," Cr Chandler said.

"We found a disused bore which has a licence for 400 megs, so we take that 400 megalitres and take that to fill this.

"It's a huge expanse, so it will take about five months to fill it."

But opponents are horrified by the plan to tap critical water supplies for recreational purposes, particularly during a severe drought.

Barcaldine resident and former mayoral candidate Sharon Broughton said most of the town's residents were against the scheme, but many are too nervous to speak out.

"They are very concerned about this proposal," Dr Broughton said.

"There has been a lot of talk amongst the graziers. To them, water is their absolute lifeblood."

Barcaldine is best known as the home of the Tree of Knowledge.

But Cr Chandler said a waterski park would put the town on the map.

"If you think about not just skiing and jet skis, but just boating, canoeing, kayaking, all sorts of water sports — it is a multi-disciplinary sporting complex," he said.

"We will introduce rowing as a sport in outback Queensland, whereas generally that is only a sport of GPS schools in the south-east corner."

Barcaldine Mayor Rob Chandler says the town is "fortunate to be sitting on the artesian basin". ( ABC News: Julie Hornsey )

Cr Chandler said he believed the facility would convince more young people to stay in town.

"I'll take the words of Dr Joe, the local doctor … 'facilities like that will keep your young doctors here'," he said.

"It's about liveability, it's about keeping your young people here, and keeping your professional people that want something to do after work.

"Now we have something on the edge of town that will take people away from, take the kids away from their laptops and get them out and get them active."

Traditional custodian Suzanne Thompson said that was "nonsense".

"There's no jobs, so I'm a bit confused about the rationale around 'let's put a waterski park in'," she said.

"It is probably the most irresponsible thing we could actually do right now in the current climate, especially out here.

"If we weren't in drought, I still don't think that it's the most appropriate, wisest thing to do.

"Water is one of the most precious things that we have as human beings to survive, to grow food."

Suzanne Thompson says the proposed park is on a site where her ancestors camped. ( ABC News: Julie Horsney )

Ms Thompson said the water park site had important cultural significance for the local Iningai people.

"We found cultural heritage all the way through. Our family had their camps and stuff here," she said.

"There were a lot of Iningai people camped here."

Ms Thompson has done a cultural survey on the area, and said she was saddened the ski park was planned for the spot where her ancestors once camped.

The excavated land for the planned the waterski park just outside Barcaldine. ( ABC News: Damien Larkins )

"You find sort of flakes or flints, spearheads, we have found one axe head," she said.

"Knowing that, we had to remove the artefacts because they're going to go ahead with this project. Cultural heritage is secondary."

The Mayor said he was not fazed by detractors.

"I think it will grow on them as, yeah, just a get-active place," Cr Chandler said.

"Agricultural people, landholders, they need these small communities and so do the state and federal governments.

"They need small communities to do business in Australia, and so if we want to keep people in our small communities, then we have to create that liveability.

"If that means building a ski park here on the western side of town I, for one, can live with that."

A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources said the department was yet to receive a water licence application, but it had been in contact with the Barcaldine Regional Council about a number of water supply options.