Eighteen months have elapsed since councillors unanimously approved a water safety management plan, with the aim of "reducing the community risk of drowning or near drowning incidents".

One of the report's 13 recommendations was to investigate the installation of vandal-proof waterway rescue cabinets containing publicly accessible safety equipment, including potentially a defibrillator.

However, when The Daily Advertiser asked this week for an update on the investigation the council's director of regional activation Michael Keys said in a statement that "we are still working through this review and anticipate it will be completed in the near future".

Two weeks ago a man was resuscitated by four off-duty medical professionals after almost drowning at Wagga Beach.

In the aftermath, one of the nurses who was at the scene, Felicity Benedyka, urged council to improve safety at the site.

Since the incident, Ms Benedyka's mother, Jenny McKinnon, has been calling for a defibrillator to be installed.

"I've been talking to local community members and people are just astonished there isn't one there," she said.

Councillor Kerry Pascoe said it was "disturbing" that it had taken so long to conduct the investigation and that the recommendations should now be "well and truly" in place

"All the recommendations should have been acted on at least by now. I want to know why that's not done," he said.

Wagga man Bruce Graham wrote to council in November 2018 calling for a defibrillator to be installed at the beach when he made a submission to the draft version of the water safety plan.

Mr Graham told The Daily Advertiser he started thinking about the need for a defibrillator while spending time at the Canoe Club and seeing the Murrumbidgee River grow more popular.

He said council "could move with a little more haste" on installing safety equipment at Wagga Beach.

The Daily Advertiser requested an interview with a council representative about the possibility of installing a defibrillator at the beach.

In response, director of regional activation Michael Keys issued a statement saying council was committed to the Inland Water Safety Management Plan.

Mr Keys said council was working with Royal Life Saving Australia on reviewing the report but didn't confirm how much of it would implemented.

"We are still working through this review and anticipate it will be completed in the near future," he said.

Council documents from June 2019 show the Royal Life Saving Australia Riverina office supported and endorsed all 13 recommendations made in the report.

Councillor Tim Koschel said he would like to see a defibrillator at the beach "sooner rather than later" with the recent near drowning an indication council should "speed up" on the issue.

"I know there's some concerns in regards to vandalism from other councillors [but] I think the importance outweighs the security risk. I think people would respect it being there," he said.

Cr Koschel said new education initiatives were the only "locked in" aspect of the report, pointing to the "Outback Lifesaver" water safety program for young children which will commence in late January.

Councillor Dan Hayes said while he supported calls for a defibrillator it was "disingenuous" to single out the issue of safety equipment, because the river safety plan was made up of multiple parts that would take time to introduce.

When asked whether council should have fully implemented the report's recommendations before it was due to be reviewed in November 2020, Cr Hayes said he rejected the premise of the question.

"With water safety it's never done. We're never going to sit there and say it's done," he said.