Policies and initiatives > Direction 5. A great place to be > Policy 5.8

Policy 5.8 – Improve the environmental health of the bays and their catchments

Port Phillip Bay is almost 2,000 square kilometres in area and metropolitan Melbourne has some 135 kilometres of urban development adjacent to its coast. Because Port Phillip Bay and the smaller but more fragile Western Port are critical recreational and economic resources for Melbourne, care needs to be taken to protect their environ-mental health. Land use, land management and activities that occur within urban areas and on surround-ing rural land determine the ecological health of the bays and their catchments.

The Government has recently passed legislation to establish marine national parks and sanctuaries in Victoria, with four parks and two sanctuaries located in Port Phillip Bay and Western Port.

Melbourne 2030 aims to reduce major environmental pressures associated with urban growth and development within the catchments of Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. Urban development within the growth areas, particularly the Cranbourne-Pakenham and Werribee corridors, needs to respond to the high environmental sensitivities of adjacent land and water, and protect significant natural assets including the internationally recognised Ramsar sites.

The State Environment Protection Policy (SEPP) (Waters of Victoria) introduced a schedule applying to Western Port and its catchment that aims to improve the natural environment of the bay and provide for important human needs and activities. A companion SEPP for Port Phillip Bay was declared in 1997, while the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan addresses the risk of nutrients entering the bay from the catchment.

The water quality of Port Phillip Bay is generally fair to good and it contains a vibrant sea life with areas of kelp forest. A key threat is the impact of exotic marine pests such as tube worms and Pacific starfish.

As is typical of urban waterways, the water quality in the waterways leading to the bays is generally poor in the middle and lower parts of the catchments. The limited trend data available shows little measurable improvement in water quality over the past decade. The Government will work to reduce pressures on water quality from increased sediments and other pollutants, emanating mainly from construction sites and the construction phase of road development, in order to improve the quality of stormwater entering the waterways.

Drainage and flood-plain plans are prepared by waterway management authorities. Outside the Port Phillip Catchment and Land Protection (CALP) Board region – which broadly covers the area influenced by Melbourne 2030 – catchment management authorities have this responsibility. Melbourne Water is responsible for waterway and floodplain management for most of metropolitan Melbourne, but not for all of it. Drainage and flood-plain planning and management is inadequate in some existing urban areas and in parts of the designated growth areas because 30 per cent of waterways in the Port Phillip and Western Port region (excluding public land) do not have a formal waterway management authority. Waterway management arrangements for the whole of the Port Phillip Bay and Western Port catchments will be reviewed to ensure effective drainage and flood plain management across the region.

In addition, an updated regional catchment strategy is being prepared by the Port Phillip CALP Board. A holistic approach will be used in assessing the pressures that affect the ecological health of the catchments, waterways and bays. With the Port Phillip Bay Environmental Management Plan, the catchment strategy will provide a blueprint for action by industry, community and government agencies in achieving sustainable land and water management. This blueprint will be linked to the environmental initiatives in Melbourne 2030 and will complement them.

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