A new environment strategy for the Macedon Ranges
Fact Sheet: Catchment Management
(managing land and water together)
A catchment is an area of land from which water drains to a common point. Catchments are
divided by ridgelines, so that rain and run-off may flow either side of the ridgeline into two or
more catchments and sub-catchments. All water in a catchment eventually flows into a creek,
river, lake, or ocean, referred to as the receiving water.
What makes a healthy catchment?
A common indicator of a healthy catchment is the water quality in the receiving water. Water quality is
ultimately determined by our everyday activities, and how they impact on land and water within the
catchment. For example, hosing down driveways into gutters, or allowing excess irrigation water to run
off farms, means that water carrying pollutants ends up in waterways. If a catchment feeds into our
water supply, water quality is particularly important.
Other good indicators of catchment health are soil health, the permeability of surfaces to water, the
connectivity between stands of native vegetation, biodiversity, and agricultural productivity. These
elements are all interconnected.
Protecting our catchments
As such a wide variety of human activity affects land and water in both rural and urban contexts,
preventing adverse impacts to catchment health is everybody’s responsibility. We need everyone to be
aware of, and minimise, the impact our everyday actions can have on catchment health.
Organisations responsible for managing land and waterways can also reduce impacts on catchment
health by installing water sensitive urban design treatments, such as rain gardens, filtration ponds or
grass swales along roads, to filter runoff before it enters waterways. Also called stormwater, runoff is
water that is not absorbed by the ground, meaning it runs off land into waterways, carrying all the
pollutants it picks up along the way.
Figure 1 (over the page) illustrates preferred management practices for minimising the impacts of
pollution to waterways through good land management practices in a rural catchment.
Figure 2 (over the page) illustrates how the water-cycle works in natural and urban areas, and highlights
the potential benefits of water sensitive urban design treatments in working towards a more natural
hydrology and reducing the transport of pollutants to the receiving water.
Figure 1: Recommended land management practices for catchment health. (Source http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/water/dswpoll.htm Date accessed 8 July 2015)
Figure 2: The water balance cycle – natural and modified. (Source: http://waterbydesign.com.au/whatiswsud/
Date accessed 30 June 2015)
Catchment Management in the Macedon Ranges
The Macedon Ranges Shire is unique, with the ranges running through the centre so that land to the
north drains to the Murray River, and land to the south drains to Port Phillip Bay.
The headwaters of five rivers and their catchments are located within the shire, as shown in Figure 3.
1. A section in the north east drains to the Goulburn River
2. The north central part of the shire contains the headwaters of the Campaspe River, including
Pipers Creek and Five Mile Creek
3. An area in the west of the shire contains the headwaters of the Coliban River, and includes water
storages like Malmsbury Reservoir
4. Most of the east and south of the shire form the headwaters of the Maribyrnong River catchment,
including deep Creek and Jacksons Creek
5. A small area in the south of the shire drains to the Werribee River.
With so many river catchments in the shire, several agencies hold responsibility for one or more
aspects of catchment management: the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, the North
Central Catchment Management Authority, the Port Phillip Catchment Management Authority,
Melbourne Water, Southern Rural Water, Western Water, Coliban Water, and Goulburn Murray Water.
Each have plans and strategies according to their statutory roles, which provide guidance for
managing land and water across the shire. The water authorities also have responsibilities for
managing the 25 Proclaimed Water Supply Catchments within the shire.
Figure 3: The waterways and catchments in the Macedon Ranges Shire
The current health of our catchments
The overall health of river catchments is largely influenced by the health of the headwaters. For
example, if river banks in the upper reaches of rivers are unstable or weedy, soil and weeds are carried
downstream, potentially causing problems for fish and waterbugs through sedimentation and weed
infestation. In contrast, stable riverbanks that are well vegetated with native plants can be thought of
as providing a good foundation to the overall health of the catchment.
The following provides an indication of the health of headwaters in the shire:
1. The 2014 North Central Waterways Strategy (North Central Catchment Management Authority,
2014) rates sections of the upper Campaspe River as moderate to very poor, based on the
Index of Stream Condition assessment method.
2. The 2013 Healthy Waterways Strategy (Melbourne Water, 2013) notes the upper Maribyrnong
River as supporting key values, including the threatened Yarra Pygmy Perch in the upper
reaches of Deep Creek, and platypus in Jacksons Creek.
3. The headwaters of the Werribee River are generally considered to be healthy, partly due to
their location in the Wombat State Forest.
However, despite these values for the upper reaches of both the Maribyrnong and Werribee Rivers,
their overall condition is rated as moderate to poor (Victorian Catchment Management Council, 2012
Catchment Condition and Management Report).
These ratings indicate the scale of the challenge we face to improve catchment health in the shire. See
the fact sheet on Biodiversity for an outline of some current programs aimed at protecting and
enhancing biodiversity, thereby improving the health of waterways and their catchments.
Council’s role in catchment management
The expected increase in population for the shire brings an associated increase and diversity in
development of land and use of water, presenting a challenge for Council in working to minimise the
potential impacts of growth and development on catchment health. While Council can use statutory
measures, it cannot control the everyday practices of individuals. Council can however, promote
awareness and encourage adoption of good land and water management practices and promote
existing programs and incentives delivered by other management authorities. Council can also
incorporate water sensitive urban design treatments into its design and construction of local roads,
streetscapes and drainage, and work with land developers and management authorities to better
manage runoff from land into waterways.
Examples of current work to improve catchment health include the Caring for Campaspe project,
being delivered by the North Central Catchment Management Authority and supported by Council.
Council is also working with Melbourne Water through the Corridors of Green partnership to improve
the health of upper sections of waterways leading to the Maribyrnong River, through works like weed
control and revegetation. Council has also worked with Melbourne Water to determine the feasibility
of installing water sensitive urban design treatments around Gisborne, to reduce impacts of
stormwater flowing into Jackson’s Creek.
Where to from here?
Council is keen to capture your interest and ideas in catchment management to inform the development
of a new environment strategy for the Shire. You are invited to complete a survey at the following link
mrsc.vic.gov.au/your say.
Your responses will be considered alongside responses from other community members and
stakeholders, to help shape strategic directions for protecting land and water into the future.
If you would like further information about the development of the new environment strategy, please
contact Silvana on 5421 9659 or spredebon@mrsc.vic.gov.au.