At last, progress may have been made on that vision with federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce touring the site on Thursday.

Lake Coolah has been left off the shortlist for proposed new dams in the government's recent Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper, but Mr Joyce wouldn't rule out it eventually being built - one day.

Speaking at Charles Sturt University in Wagga on Thursday prior to travelling to Lake Coolah, Mr Joyce said while the project may not be on the government's immediate agenda, it was listening to the push for the dam.

"None of these projects happen overnight and what I'm hoping is whilst we have a government that is pro-development, that is not scared of water infrastructure and while you have local representatives such as Michael McCormack, you've got a very good chance of pursuing these agendas," he said.

"It's just your enthusiasm and your diligence that gets these things across the line."

Following Mr Joyce's visit to the site on Thursday afternoon, member for Riverina Michael McCormack said the visit had represented a big step forward for the proposal.

"I think if everything goes according to plan, it seems to be the sort of site which won't require tens of millions of dollars and years of work," Mr McCormack said.

"If we can get everything lined up as we like, it's the sort of project which could feasibly store 500,000 megalitres of water, which could really underpin the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area economy."

With a capacity to store around 450,000 megalitres of water and located in a strategic position in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, the Lake Coolah site presents as a strong candidate for a future dam.

Though it has strong claims for a future water storage facility to be built, Mr Joyce said he was keeping an open mind about where dams would be built in the future.

"I try to remain agnostic about (whether) this site is better than that site," he said.

"I want the biggest bang for our buck - the most megalitres and the greatest efficiency we can get in water."