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ENRC Inquiry into Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Submission by Melbourne Water 5 August 2011 Who is Melbourne Water? Melbourne Water is a statutory corporation, fully owned by the Victorian Government. Melbourne Water is a water resource manager with three main areas of responsibility: 1. Provision of wholesale water and recycled water services to retail water businesses 2. Provision of wholesale sewerage services to retail water businesses 3. Provision of waterways and drainage services in the Port Phillip and Westernport region, which includes the greater Melbourne community. Melbourne Water’s waterways and drainage responsibilities include providing river health, water quality, floodplain and regional drainage services across the region as outlined in the Water Act 1989 and our Statement of Obligations. The Water Act 1989, in particular Part 6 Division 2, and Part 10, Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 gives Melbourne Water the authority to manage waterways, regional drainage and floodplain management services. Melbourne Water also has specific delegated Ministerial functions under the Water Act, including diversions management (the licensing of water extractions) and licensing of works by others on waterways. In other regions, the responsibility for the provision of waterways and drainage services (river health and floodplain management) rests with the relevant Catchment Management Authority. Within the Port Phillip and Westernport region however, the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority does not have responsibility for the management of waterways and regional drainage and river health. Melbourne Water’s Area of Responsibility and assets Our area of responsibility covers the 12,800 square kilometre Port Phillip and Westernport region which includes the river basins of Werribee, Maribyrnong, Yarra and Bunyip with a significant portion of the catchment highly urbanised. A map of our region is shown at Figure 1 on page 3. In our region, we manage approximately: • 8,400 kilometres of rivers and creeks • 1,463 kilometres of drains • 195 kilometres of levees • 214 retarding basins • 22 pump stations • 305 constructed waterways treatment systems and wetlands • 299 monitoring stations on waterways and drains • 104 urban lakes. How is Melbourne Water funded to undertake Waterways and Drainage Services? Melbourne Water’s Waterways Group manages rivers and creeks and major drainage systems throughout the Port Phillip and Westernport region. The Group’s activities are funded via a Waterways and Drainage Charge which is levied on customers in the region. The charge appears on customer’s water bills and is collected by seven water retailers within the region on our behalf. 1 Doc Ref: MW submission to ENRC Enquiry into Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Aug11.doc Figure 1. Port Phillip and Westernport Region 2 Doc Ref: MW submission to ENRC Enquiry into Flood Mitigation Infrastructure Aug11.doc The Essential Services Commission (ESC) regulates Melbourne Water’s prices for waterways and drainage services and endorses service commitments. The Waterways Operating Charter supports pricing submissions to the ESC. Every five years, Melbourne Water must submit a Water Plan to the ESC outlining what activities we propose to undertake to manage waterways and drainage services across the region and the cost associated with this. The ESC then reviews the proposed programs and provides a determination on what price will be set for the five year period. There is a Waterways and Drainage charge for properties within the urban growth boundary and a Waterways (only) charge for properties outside the urban growth boundary. This reflects the different level of services provided to urban and rural communities. There are also two special precept areas where charges are based on specific levels of service – Patterson River Precept Area and Koo Wee Rup and Longwarry Flood Protection District. Funding for the five year period from 2008/09 to 2012/13 totals some $844 million. This is allocated to the following key activities: • $11.6 million - community and stakeholder • $1751 million – managing waterway improvement • $9.8 million – managing environmental flows • $87.32 million – managing water quality • $179.63 million – flood and drainage management • $380.54 million – managing urban growth Flood Management within the Region Floods are a natural and inevitable event. We cannot always control them. Therefore, we must learn how we can live with them while minimizing risks to public health and safety, property and infrastructure. As the regional drainage and floodplain management authority for the region Melbourne Water is responsible for the management and maintenance of numerous retarding basins, levee banks, pump stations and flood gates along with over 8,400 kilometres of rivers and creeks and 1463 kilometres of drains. Commonwealth, State, regional and local authorities as well as local communities and individuals all have a vital role to play in flood management. The scope of flood management is described within the contact of three overlapping activity clusters: prevention, response and recovery – see Figure 2. 1 Includes funding for monitoring, investigations and research projects and some waterways community projects such as stream frontage management grants 2 Includes funding for monitoring, investigations and research projects 3 Includes funding for monitoring, investigations and research projects 4 Mainly funded by development industry rather than through waterways and drainage charge 3 Figure 2. Flood management activities in Victoria Melbourne Water’s flood management functions include: • Undertaking flood studies and flood mapping • Identifying flood affected land • Undertaken flood prevention works such as retarding basins, levees and pipe augmentation • Assisting the Bureau of Meteorology with flood forecasting and warning • Advising planning authorities regarding appropriate land use and development of flood affected areas through our role as a planning permit referral authority • Supporting community education and awareness programs • Planning regional drainage systems to ensure new urban development meet appropriate standards of flood protection and environmental performance • The ownership and maintenance of drainage assets where the catchment area is greater than 60 hectares • Assessment of planning permit applications to subdivide land or develop flood affected land The Port Phillip and Westernport region faces significant flood management and drainage challenges that require a coordinated and collaborative approach by flood managers and the community. There are currently more than 100,000 properties in the region that are known to be at risk from flooding from a 1 in 100 year ARI event of which 82,000 properties are at risk from flooding from overland flows. More than 40,000 of these properties contain buildings or dwellings that are at risk of flooding above floor level. On average, the damage caused by flooding in the region has been estimated to be $245 million each year. In 2007 Melbourne Water published the Flood Management and Drainage Strategy for the Port Phillip and Westernport Region5. The strategy was prepared following discussions between government departments, councils, emergency service organisations, and other agencies about how we can improve the management of flood risk in the region. The strategy recognised that we couldn’t construct required works to protect all properties in the region from flooding during large flood events due to a number of reasons including: • It is not physically feasible to construct the required works • The multi-billion dollar cost and extreme disruption of such works • The time frame to build such expensive infrastructure would exceed the lifespan of the properties they attempt to protect. However, the strategy recognised that although it’s not possible to make the region completely free from flooding, there are some flooding risks that we may decide are extreme and should be reduced or eliminated as a priority. The strategy proposed an accelerated program to identify and deal with extreme flood risks across the region. As part of the strategy, Melbourne Water will continue to map flood affected areas and will sponsor research into the intangible social and human health impacts of floods to develop an improved flood risk assessment tool that takes these costs to account when determining flood risk priorities and responses. Throughout the strategy there is broad recognition that no single organisation and no single approach can deliver an effective response to flood management issues. While Melbourne Water and councils will continue to deploy engineering solutions to mitigate flood risks, it is recognised that this approach must be accompanied by a range of non-structural responses. There are other tools that are equally effective and significantly less expensive, such as planning controls and public awareness programs that can be deployed immediately to assist in treating the residual and future flood risks. These tools will be developed in partnership with other flood managers. In particular, the strategy recognises the importance and benefits of improved education in assisting the community prepare, respond and recover from floods. Part of this focus on existing flood risks will also involve working with councils to develop local flood management plans, and working with the State Flood Policy Committee, Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner and other stakeholders

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