Water is the essence of all life. It is critical to the liveability of our City, the health of our ecosystems and prosperity of our communities.

We use water to sustain our parks and gardens, to service the Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre and to support our many other Council operations and facilities so it is vital that it is used wisely to keep our environment and community healthy.

The sustainable management of our water resources will play an integral role in meeting current and future challenges associated with population growth, providing quality open spaces to alleviate the urban heat island effect, and ensuring community and environmental resilience.

Achieving the right balance through a holistic approach to water management to meet our needs and the environment’s needs, will ensure Maribyrnong is resilient to these water related issues.

Council plays a vital role in water management by managing public assets and drainage, managing its water use, and indirectly through community education.

The Maribyrnong Integrated Water Management Plan 2023-2033 endorsed at the May 2024 Council meeting considers key challenges surrounding water management issues such as population increase, increasing demand, climate change, and waterway health.

It establishes Council's vision, targets and objectives, identifies opportunities for integrated water management across our municipality, and lists ways to drive more innovative approaches to water management.

The adopted Plan identifies ways we can help protect our waterways and local habitat, improve stormwater quality by reducing pollutants entering downstream waterways, increase community liveability, recreation, and amenity, support tree growth, and greener neighbourhoods, improve community and environmental resilience, and help minimise the urban heat island effect.

The document has been informed by research, stakeholder conversations, specialist and technical advice and engagement with our community which resulted in the addition of three new actions.

In February and March 2024, Council invited the community to provide comment on the draft Integrated Water Management Plan either online via Your City Your Voice or at one of two in person events.

Following the community conversation, changes were made to reflect greater recognition and inclusion of Traditional Owners, specifically:

• The addition of Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Bunuroung Land Council Aboriginal Corporation as key organisations/stakeholders involved in the delivery of water cycle services in the City of Maribyrnong.
• Renaming Objective 4 to 'Strong relationships with Traditional Owners and community'.
• A new outcome for Objective 4 - A professional and collaborative working relationship with the Traditional Owners.

Three new actions were also added to the final Plan:

• Cultural awareness training for Maribyrnong City Council staff undertaking waterways roles or engaging with First Nations Peoples.
• Cultural values assessment along waterways and adjacent floodplains, such as the Maribyrnong River.
• Due consideration to be given to the sustainable use of water when determining the best use of public open space.

You can download a copy of the Engagement Summary Report from the document library.