There are a number of authorities with different roles related to drainage and management of the District. Melbourne Water’s Koo Wee Rup team are responsible for building and maintaining over 500 kilometres of carrier and precept drains within the area.

This includes:

• Constructed precept drains: watercourses built to drain the district, originating from within it. Melbourne Water maintains them to ensure they continue to perform as designed, including:
  • grass cutting
  • desilting
  • weed control
  • structural works.
• Carrier drains: larger waterways starting upstream of the district, which take water from precept drains and carry it through the area – Bunyip River, for example. Works on these waterways are also co-funded (50%) by a separate charge known as the Waterways and Drainage Charge.

Latest works across the District

Winter preventative maintenance completed – Reach Mowing Program

We recently completed the winter reach mowing maintenance program for 2025. This ongoing program covers 105 drains across the precept district, aiming to increase their hydraulic capacity and reduce flow restrictions.

The reach mower allows us to manage instream vegetation safely and efficiently, ensuring our waterways remain clear and functional. Each drain is mown twice a year, in January and May. This timing maximises capacity in the channels in spring and early summer, which are generally the peak flow periods.

Flood gate replacements/civil repairs & renewals – Civil Crew Floodgate Inspection Program

We have completed inspections of 306 floodgates assets across the precept district. Through these inspections we’ve identified 45 locations where works are needed – including replacing some steel floodgates with new fibreglass floodgates. Some of these assets require more extensive works such as headwall replacements or new culvert pipes.

Drainage desilt works

Inspections have also resulted in several sites being identified for inclusion in this year’s desilt program (i.e. locations requiring sediment to be removed from drains).

These locations are currently having sediment tested to:

• classify the sediment
• comply with Environment Protection Act obligations
• develop accurate cost estimates.

Once we receive cost estimates, we will finalise the list of work sites based on available funding, using a risk-based approach.

Revegetation works – Healthy Waterways Strategy

There are many threatened species in the Koo Wee Rup district, including the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Growling Grass Frog and Australian Grayling.

We’ve revegetated several sites over the winter, including Yallock Creek Reserve, to improve habitat for some of these species. These works align with our Healthy Waterway Strategy commitments and are funded by the Waterways and Drainage Charge, rather than the Precept Rate – which funds flood prevention and drainage maintenance across the District.

A reminder that landholders in the Koo Wee Rup-Longwarry Flood Protection District don’t pay the Waterways and Drainage Charge that the rest of Greater Melbourne pays through their water bill.

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