The Koo Wee Rup–Longwarry Flood Protection District is an area of high conservation value. It provides wildlife corridors and habitat for nationally-significant threatened and endangered species and ecological communities, including:

• Southern Brown Bandicoot
• Growling Grass Frog
• Australian Grayling
• Dwarf Galaxias
• Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarsh.

We undertake a variety of activities to protect these threatened species, ecological communities and other matters of environmental significance, and ensure our necessary drainage works can proceed as quickly as possible.

Watch the video below and listen to our staff and community members talk about their work protecting waterway and catchment health.

Project spotlight: Swampworks

Melbourne Water works with community groups, local authorities and partners to improve waterway health and drainage function within the District.

We are supporting Swampworks, a group working to increase biodiversity across the Great Koo Wee Rup Swamp area, and have provided land at the drainage reserve along the Yallock Outfall in Bayles for an upcoming Swampworks planting project.

This will replace environmental weeds such as blackberry with grasses, sedges and other ground covers to improve water quality, reduce maintenance costs, and improve habitat for the Southern Brown Bandicoot.

The group is looking for project areas across the District where land can be improved for environmental benefit and nature conservation. For more information email Sue Anderson at [email protected].

Swampworks is a collaboration between:

• Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action
• Monash University
• local Landcare Groups
• Western Port Catchment Landcare Network
• Healesville to Philip Island Nature Link
• Parks Victoria
• Westernport Biosphere
• Botanical Gardens Cranbourne
• three municipal councils.

Grants

If you own or manage a waterway on your property, you may be eligible for a grant to improve the health of our waterways as part of the Melbourne Water Liveable Communities, Liveable Waterways program.

The Koo Wee Rup–Longwarry region includes priority areas for the program and you can apply for funding for one or a combination of the following activities:

• weed control
• revegetation
• fencing
• farm layout and track design and construction
• water use efficiency
• effluent management
• grazing management
• feed-pad construction
• regenerative agricultural practices
• stormwater design and construction, treatment and/or harvesting
• pest management
• dam decommissioning
• surface water drainage
• training or capacity building.

Keep informed and in touch

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If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact us via email [email protected] or telephone 131 722.