Floodplain management and the
environment
Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy Information
Sheet
The Victorian Government is seeking public feedback on the Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain
Management Strategy.
The proposed policies, actions and accountabilities set the policy direction for floodplain
management in Victoria. A Draft Strategy was released on 26 June 2014 for a six-week
public comment period. Submissions and feedback at public information sessions identified a
number of opportunities to revise the draft Strategy.
The following changes have been incorporated into the Revised Draft Strategy:
 revised rural levee policy
 updates to the chapter relating to stormwater flooding in Melbourne and regional Victoria
 an acknowledgement of the value of Aboriginal communities.
 adapting to climate change to manage flood risk
 clarification around emergency management roles and responsibilities
 guiding principles to support catchment management authority (CMA) role in land use
planning clarification of responsibilities for maintenance of flood warning gauges
 consideration of the environmental benefits of flooding.
This handout sets out the proposals in the Strategy that relate to Aboriginal cultural values and
floodplain management.
The Strategy aims to better prepare Victoria for severe flooding by improving the evaluation and
communication of flood risks. In this way it aims to enable communities and relevant agencies to
take better-informed actions to manage floods.
The Strategy builds on important lessons from the 2010, 2011 and 2012 floods. It also integrates the
outcomes of the subsequent review into the effectiveness of flood warning and response systems,
and the inquiry into flood mitigation infrastructure.
Image deleted: Flooded Red Gums at Kinnairds Swamp following environmental watering. Source:
DELWP
Proposed Policy 18a
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Regional floodplain management strategies will be aligned, as closely as practicable, with the
policies and objectives of relevant regional waterway management strategies.
Proposed Action 18b
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Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) will prepare guidelines on
how to apply to a CMA or Melbourne Water for authorisation to carry out works on
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waterways. These guidelines will include practical advice on how to meet Aboriginal and
cultural heritage protection requirements. They will also include practical advice on how to
meet environmental protection requirements.
CMAs and Melbourne Water will make these guidelines available at their offices and on their
websites.
Linking with Victorian Waterway Management Strategy
The Victorian Waterway Management Strategy (2013) (VWMS) provides the framework for
maintaining and improving the condition of Victoria’s rivers, estuaries and wetlands. It aims to
ensure that waterways continue to support environmental, social, cultural and economic values
for all Victorians.
Regional floodplain management strategies must also align as closely as practicable with the policies
and objectives of relevant regional waterway management strategies. For example, the policies and
actions for engagement with Aboriginal groups in regional waterway strategies also apply to regional
floodplain management strategies.
The Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy stipulates that flood mitigation
activities on waterways (such as clearing vegetation, and removal of debris and sediment) must be
carried out in ways that are consistent with the VWMS. It proposes to prepare guidelines that will
consider the risks of any proposed activities relating to flood mitigation on waterways.
Working with the environment to hold and slow floodwater
We need to work more with the environment to allow natural processes to prevail in high flow
events. In particular, wetlands reduce the impacts of flooding by holding and slowing floodwater. To
take advantage of this, many new wetlands have been constructed in urban areas to offset the
increased runoff associated with the growth in impervious surfaces.
In alignment with the VWMS, this Strategy adopts the principle that rivers should be allowed to
flood naturally, wherever possible, maintaining connectivity to floodplains and their associated
wetlands.
Regional floodplain management strategies will need to integrate the management of flood risks
with the protection of priority high value waterways.
Incorporating environmental values into floodplain management
Floodplains are valuable places for communities, farmers and Aboriginal groups; they are also
valuable for the environment.
When we act to protect urban and rural areas from flood risk, it is important that we do not diminish
the cultural heritage or environmental values of floodplains. We also need to take into account the
benefits that flooding provides to the environment.
The links between river channels and their natural floodplains are important for the overall health of
river systems. For example, floods transfer carbon and nutrients between rivers and floodplains.
This is important for the health of plants, fish and other animal populations. It also helps to prevent
water quality problems.
The Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) was established in recognition of the need to
maintain and improve environmental values in waterways. It has the explicit objective of returning
some flows back to river systems to achieve environmental outcomes. Primarily, the VEWH’s focus is
on providing flows solely within the river channel, well below levels that pose a risk to private land
or infrastructure. However, in some instances, it is possible to actively deliver environmental water
to the floodplain. This occurs mainly on public land, such as National Parks and State Forests, but
may also occur on private land with the consent of the landholder.
Considering environmental values when undertaking flood mitigation
activities
Changes to the Water Act 1989 enable CMAs to issue individuals with permits to maintain existing
levees on Crown land. They will be able to maintain existing levees at their current heights (including
scope to restore sunken or eroded sections) and their current lengths, but they will not be able to
increase their heights or lengths.
CMAs and land managers, such as DELWP and Parks Victoria, will set reasonable conditions on the
Permit to minimise the impact of maintenance activities on Crown land values.
Victoria protects environmental values through a number of Acts of Parliament, each requiring
different approval processes. The segmentation of these approvals can make individuals hesitant
about taking action to protect themselves against flood risks. For this reason, DELWP is working to
streamline environmental approvals in relation to floodplain management.
The Strategy incorporates a framework to address flood risk by making individuals and organisations
more accountable for their actions and by requiring them to consider the impacts of what they
propose on the environment.
DELWP will prepare guidelines on how to apply for permits to maintain levees on Crown land. This
will include practical advice on how the applicants for these permits can meet their obligations to
protect Aboriginal, cultural heritage and environmental values. A person holding a levee
maintenance permit may not require a permit under the relevant Municipal Planning Scheme.
Proposed Policy 17d
• The beneficiaries of levees on Crown land – that are not formally managed – will be able to
maintain the height and width of those levees under a Levee Maintenance Permit scheme.
• Permits to maintain levees on Crown land will be subject to conditions specified by both the Crown
land manager and the Minister for Water or a delegate such as a CMA.
• Applicants for levee maintenance permits will need to ensure their activities comply with
Aboriginal cultural heritage requirements – if relevant.
Permitting flood mitigation activities on waterways
The CMAs and Melbourne Water have an important role, under the Water Act 1989, in authorising
individuals and organisations to carry out activities on waterways. The Revised Draft Victorian
Floodplain Management Strategy proposes a framework to authorise individuals, infrastructure
managers, councils and other authorities to carry out flood mitigation activities on waterways. The
framework will deal with large-scale flood mitigation projects, which typically benefit urban
communities, as well as small-scale activities that may benefit individual landholders.
The beneficiaries of flood mitigation activities must be willing to cover the ongoing costs of such
activities. Authorisation for these activities will be given where it is cost effective, that is, have
demonstrable benefits in terms of reduced average annual damage (AAD) and those benefits are
greater than any costs to waterway health.
Proposed Policy 18b
• Where flood studies demonstrate that flood risks can be materially reduced by large-scale
flood mitigation activities on waterways, individuals or local government authorities (LGAs)
will be able to carry out those activities subject to authorisation granted by the CMAs or
Melbourne Water.
• If a waterway is to be modified or if vegetation, debris or sediment is to be removed from a
waterway for flood mitigation purposes, and these activities are to be implemented as
Water Management Schemes, the relevant LGA or other authority responsible for
implementing the scheme will be responsible for undertaking the work (in compliance with
any relevant conditions) and for all ongoing maintenance.
• Large-scale flood mitigation activities on waterways must be demonstrated, through a flood
study, to be cost effective, i.e. have demonstrable benefits in terms of reduced average
annual damage (AAD) that are greater than any costs to waterway health.
How to get a copy
Detailed information on the environment and floodplain management as well as a range of matters
relating to floodplain management in Victoria can be found in the Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain
Management Strategy, available at www.delwp.vic.gov.au/revised-draft-floodplain-managementstrategy or by calling the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning customer service
centre on 136 186.
List of available information sheets
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Overview of the Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy
Aboriginal cultural values and floodplain management
Land use planning and floodplain management
Insurance and managing flood risks
Environment and floodplain management
Total Flood Warning Systems
Managing levees and waterways in rural areas
Managing levee and waterways in urban areas outside Melbourne
Your chance to have a say
The Victorian Government welcomes feedback on the Revised Draft Victorian Floodplain
Management Strategy. Submissions must be in writing and may be emailed to
VMFS.Inquiry@delwp.vic.gov.au or sent to:
Victorian Floodplain Management Strategy
PO Box 500
East Melbourne VIC 3002
The closing date for submissions is 8 August 2015.
You need to know:
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The information you provide in your submission, or in any other response, will only be used
by DELWP and the Interdepartmental Stakeholder Reference Group to consider as part of
the development of the final strategy. However, it may be disclosed to other relevant
agencies
as part of the consultation process.
All submissions will be treated as public documents and will also be published on the
internet for public access.
All addresses, phone numbers and email details will be removed before submissions are
published on the internet. Formal requests for confidentiality will be honoured but freedom
of information access requirements will apply to submissions treated as confidential.
If you wish to access information in your submission once it is lodged with DELWP, contact the
project team at the above address.