We’ve compiled a list of potential flood mitigation options for the Maribyrnong River catchment area. These are strategies or interventions that reduce the likelihood or impact of flooding on communities and infrastructure.
To be considered, options must reduce flood risk and prioritise community safety.
Our online map displays 50 or so options that have progressed through a screening process.
Use the map to explore each option in detail, or provide feedback via a short survey.
These options are conceptual only, and are not yet confirmed for construction. Their exact location, design and details will be refined, subject to further assessment and approvals.
We’ve screened the long-list against a set of evaluation criteria, which is currently open for feedback. This ensures options are practical, economically and technically feasible, and reflect what’s important to you.
The long-list handbook contains the full, unscreened long-list of around 200 options.
It provides information on each option, including:
It also details the option categories, including why some have been screened out.
Download the long-list handbook:
We’re committed to keeping you informed about how decisions are made, and why certain options are progressed or not. To receive email updates on this process, select the ‘follow’ button at the top of this webpage.
We have drawn on our specialists’ international, national and local experience in flood mitigation to compile the long-list, to make it as comprehensive and robust as possible.
The full long-list contains around 200 options in total. These come from several sources, including:
Above all, options must reduce flood risk – but also be economically and technically feasible, and practical to implement. We’ve therefore screened the long-list using the evaluation criteria.
The screening assess each option on different aspects of the criteria, from ‘highly favourable’ to ‘highly unfavourable’. It also excluded around 150 options that duplicated others on the list, or did not reduce flood risk in the lower catchment.
For example: if a dam cannot store the amount of floodwater needed to impact flood levels, it would be excluded.
This process ensures that we progress options which have the best chance of reducing flood risk, and of protecting people’s safety and homes in the lower catchment. These were the top community priorities we heard during Phase 1.
Your feedback will help us to understand community preferences, and influence how we go on to prioritise the shortlisted options.
Note that no option has yet been confirmed for construction. Some may not be practical due to geography, engineering feasibility or funding. Any preferred options must undergo further steps like funding and planning approvals, and environmental assessments.
Melbourne Water respectfully acknowledges the Bunurong, Gunaikurnai,
Taungurung, Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung peoples as the Traditional
Owners and Custodians of the land and water on which we rely and operate.
We
pay our deepest respects to their Elders - past, present and emerging.
