Waterways operating charter

Melbourne Water is the caretaker of river health and the authority responsible for drainage, river and floodplain management for the whole Port Phillip and Westernport region. Our key aims are to ensure that Melbourne's natural rivers and creeks are healthy, and that our communities are provided with a safe level of flood protection.

The Waterways Operating Charter sets out Melbourne Water's responsibilities and the works and services required to achieve 10-year and long-term aims.

The Waterways Operating Charter 2006 covers the same life cycle as Melbourne Water's Water Plan - from 2005/06 to 2007/08. The 2006 Charter has 38 commitments. Each year we audit our implementation of the Charter and report on the audit outcomes.

Key to compliance status

√	Achieved
X	Not achieved
(√)	Substantially achieved
NA	Not applicable during this year
?	Unable to be assessed

All commitments were either achieved (34) or substantially achieved (4). John Kowarsky and Associates audited the detailed performance records for 2007/08 and Melbourne Water has summarised the results in the table below.

2007/08 Operating Charter performance

Commitment as set out in the 2006 Charter	99/00	00/01	01/02	02/03	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	Auditor Comments 2007/08
WQ6(b) Waterwatch Strategy Implementation Melbourne Waterwatch will continue to be supported and participation levels will be maintained.		√	√	√	NA	(√)	√	√	√	Exceeded target by 66%.
WQ6 (c) Frog Census The Melbourne Water Frog Census will be supported, with a minimum of 30 new participants each year.							√	√	√	No comment.
MF4(a) Community Education program The River Health Communication and Education Plan will be finalized in consultation with the Advisory Committee and implemented.	√	√	√	√	?	NA	(√)	X	√	Plan and actions well documented.
MF4 (c) Community Projects A minimum of 45 community projects relating to waterways will be supported each year.							√	√	√	Clear compliance. As noted previously, it would be useful for the spreadsheet report to include dates on which financial support was provided.
MF4 (d) Cultural Heritage Strategy Rivers and drainage-related projects will follow guidelines set out in the Cultural Heritage Strategy.							(√)	X	(√)	The Cultural Heritage Strategy was signed off in May 2008. All Waterways and Drainage Projects utilised the CEPHA checklist.
WW7 Waterway Management Plans Waterway plans for rivers of high social and environmental value will be prepared to meet the implementation targets in the Regional River Health Strategy, as defined in the Water Plan, and will be reviewed twice over their 15-year life.	√	√	√	X	X	X	√	√	√	Presentation would benefit from simplification.
NA 1 Waterway Management in the New Area Develop and implement a program for delivery of waterway management services in our new areas in consultation with stakeholders and the community.							√	(√)	√	Clear compliance, well presented.
WW4(a) Streamflow Management Plan Preparation Environmental flow regimes will be negotiated through streamflow management plans at a rate sufficient to complete the required eight plans for submission to the Minister by December 2009.	√	X	X	X	√	√	√	√	√	Six of the target eight plans complete, remainder scheduled for 2008/2009.
WW4(d) Environmental Flows Melbourne Water will investigate the environmental flow requirements of 12 rivers and six estuaries in the Port Phillip and Westernport region at a sufficient rate to complete them by 2010.						√	√	√	√	Completed to 2010 target.
WW1(a) Waterway Works Approvals Where required, all approvals of works on the beds or banks of rivers or creeks will include conditions to protect values.	X	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	√	√	Internal audit showed 51/51 projects provided comments and 48/51 had comments incorporated. Subsequent investigation of outstanding three showed that comments had been incorporated except for one comment about the need to look at Cultural Heritage values. The process for tracking of comments through to incorporation could be improved.
WW1(b) Unauthorised Waterways Works All instances of known unauthorised works affecting rivers and creeks will be vigorously pursued, and a summary of proceedings will be reported annually.	√	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	√	√	Only significant instances of unauthorised works are recorded in Incident/Hazard database. No significant instances were recorded in 2007/2008.
WW5 Waterway Works River and creek restoration works will be delivered each year in accordance with the approved program and priorities to meet the implementation targets in the Regional River Health Strategy, as defined in the Water Plan.	√	7	√	√	X	√	√	(√)	(√)	Exceeded targets, some considerably, for five of the six activity areas. Advised that additional resources were being put into developing streamside agreements.
DF2(a) Flood Mitigation (progress) Annual expenditure on flood mitigation works will be sufficient to reduce the number of vulnerable properties by 500 over the 10 years to June 2015 in areas where the priority requirements are met.	√	X	√	X	√	NA	(√)	√	√	Ahead of schedule.
DF2 (c) Flood Protection All new development will comply with flood protection standards. Planning controls will further reduce the number of flood-prone properties by about 250 per year.							√	√	√	Thorough internal audits.
DF3 Flood Event Monitoring Initial notification and subsequent forecast information will be provided to the Bureau of Meteorology for all notifiable events on stipulated waterways.	√	√	√	√	(√)	X	(√)	√	√	Need identified to qualify the meaning of "timely" in relation to "flash" and "riverine" flood categories. Advised that in fact water levels did not flood the roadway in question..
DF1 Asset Management There will be no instances of asset structural failure that result in significant flooding, damage, disruption or personal injury.	X	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	No comment.
NA2 Drainage and Flood Management in the New Area Develop and implement a program for delivery of drainage and flood protection services in our new areas in consultation with stakeholders and the community.							√	(√)	√	Assume "program" is Gantt chart which is broad in scope and does not set timelines for specific programs. Noted compliance requires only evidence of planning and implementation.
WQ7 Capacity Building Melbourne Water will build the capacity of industry and councils to deliver best practice environmental management of stormwater through a program of initiatives, and will report progress annually.						(√)	√	(√)	(√)	Advised that there were unavoidable delays in finalisation due to funding uncertainties, and that this funding was now available.
WQ8 Stormwater Management Plans – Implementation Melbourne Water will implement the actions ascribed to it in Stormwater Management Plans in priority order.						√	√	√	√	Clear reporting.
WQ4 Water Quality Improvement Facilities Infrastructure will be constructed in accordance with the proposed capital works program to reduce pollutant loads in urban stormwater run-off, including a reduction in average annual nitrogen loads of 100 tonnes by 2010.	√	X	X	√	(√)	X	√	(√)	√	Require approximately 44 tonnes to be claimed by 2010. About 46 tonnes planned to be claimed was allocated a low risk of non-completion. While 70% of the above 46 tonnes is in two projects due for completion in 2009/2010, both of these are ready to commence construction in Dec 08/Jan 09. A high level of confidence was expressed by the officer that practical completion of civil works for these two large projects would be achieved well within timeframe.
WQ10 Water Quality Improvement Plan Develop a water quality improvement plan for the Port Phillip and Westernport region by 2008.							√	√	√	No comment.
WQ11 Lower Yarra Stormwater Implement a stormwater quality action plan for the Lower Yarra according to the Lower Yarra Stormwater Action Plan program.							(√)	√	√	No comment.
MF2(a) Property Development Controls Response times will be achieved: Statutory referrals (all in the specified 21 or 28 days), Non-works offers (all in 28 days) Works offers (all in 60 days) Third party works approvals (95% in 28 days) Flood levels (97.5% in 10 days).	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	(√)	√	√	Well met compliance.
DF4 (a) Property Information Statements All future flood-related property encumbrance updates will be completed within one month of Melbourne Water receiving notification of a change in the relevant circumstances.	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	√	(√)	√	Noted that "stop the clock" process occurred for an encumbrance update. Presentation could usefully include a column "days to complete update".
DF4(c) Planning Scheme Updates All councils will be provided with up-to-date flood information annually.						√	(√)	√	√	No comment.
MF1(a) Greenfield Drainage Schemes All new growth areas in development corridors will have drainage schemes in place within three years of significant subdivisional activity commencing.	√	X	√	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	Two of three areas have drainage scheme in place. Remaining area has Preliminary rate struck meaning an agreed strategy has been completed. Difficulty experienced in interpreting data presented, particularly for Boundary Extension Area. For the extended area, advised that 13 of the target 24 investigations for the three-year period ending 2009/2010 have been completed.
MF1(b) Redevelopment Drainage Schemes Redevelopment drainage schemes will be progressively prepared at a rate of 10 per year with priority given to areas where new development activity is most concentrated.						(√)	√	√	√	Advised that over the four-year period of this Commitment that has elapsed, a total of 53 RSS investigations have been completed, the average exceeding of the target value of 10 per year.
WW6 Waterway Condition Reports The condition of a proportion of rivers and creeks will be reassessed each year using the Index of River Condition at the rate required to cover all major rivers and creeks every five years.	√	√	√	√	(√)	√	?	√	√	Already met target in 2006/2007.
WQ5(b) Investigations to fill gaps Investigations to fill data gaps in high value or high-risk rivers or creeks will be completed to meet the implementation target in the Regional River Health Strategy, as defined in the Water Plan.	√	√	√	√	X	(√)	√	√	√	Apparently well over target.
WQ5(a) Water Quality Data – analysis and reporting Summary water quality monitoring results from the Melbourne Water network of monitoring sites will be published annually.	√	√	√	√	X	√	√	√	√	Turbidity, TSS and total nitrogen were also reported (but not listed in the commitment documentation). 73 sites were monitored (not 72 as in the commitment documentation).
WQ12 Yarra Faecal Investigations Complete a program to identify and investigate faecal hotspots in the Yarra catchment by 2008.							√	(√)	√	Advised that two of the three relevant tasks specified in the Yarra River Action Plan were complete and the final one was due for completion by December 2008.
DF5 Hydrographic Data Reporting Melbourne Water will annually update and publish a schedule setting out the quality and availability of rainfall and streamflow data and the fees for supplying it, and will meet all external requests for data within 10 working days.						√	√	√	√	Website spreadsheet updated in June 2008.
NA3 Monitoring in the New Area Develop and implement a program to review monitoring and investigation programs in the new areas.							√	√	√	Noted that 2008/2009 for targeted studies is to be developed in July 2008 including through the MW Waterways Investigations and Research Workshop.
MF3(a) Research Expenditure A minimum of three reports will be published each year on rivers and drainage research undertaken or sponsored by Melbourne Water.	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	No comment.
MF3(b) Research Implementation Two tangible improvements to work methods will be achieved each year as a result of research findings.	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	No comment.
MF3(c) Research Communication A seminar involving external stakeholders will be held at least annually to communicate results and help develop priorities for further research.						(√)	√	√	√	As noted previously, coverage at seminar somewhat broader than waterways and drainage topics.
MF5(a) Incident Response Preparation Incident response training will be provided for all personnel involved in incident management.	X	√	√	√	(√)	(√)	?	√	√	Advised that rostered staff are drawn only from list of suitably trained personnel. It would be useful to demonstrate that such a list tracks the currency of training and signals the need for refresher course(s) as appropriate.
MF5(b) Incident Response Performance All incidents that require a response will be managed promptly and in accordance with Melbourne Water procedures.	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	(√)	√	All 17 incidents responded to in less than 5 minutes.

Sustainability Report 2007/08

Waterways operating charter

2007/08 Operating Charter performance