Melbourne Urban Stormwater Institutional Arrangements (MUSIA) – Drainage Assets Project

Rain Consulting was engaged to deliver a comprehensive data verification project for Melbourne Water, mapping and verifying every single pipe, pit, channel, retarding basin, and wetland across the entire Port Phillip and Westernport Region, a mammoth task.

Above & Beyond Strategies

Central to the MUSIA project was facilitating private, in-depth workshops with all 38 metropolitan councils, engaging directly with each to ensure accuracy, local input, and practical outcomes. The project produced GIS data, a detailed dashboard, and a repeatable approach to drainage asset management and transfer decisions for the Greater Melbourne area.

Rain delivered the following solutions.

• We engaged with 38 councils through private workshops, providing a forum for sharing data, local knowledge, and resolving discrepancies.
• Conducted a full, asset-by-asset review of every pipe, pit, channel, wetland, and retarding basin in the Port Phillip and Westernport Region.
• Developed a robust and repeatable catchment delineation method, blending automated analysis with manual quality checks.
• Produced verified GIS datasets and detailed asset layers for all councils.
• Built a user-friendly dashboard for interrogating asset transfers by LGA and asset type.
• Managed and reconciled data inconsistencies, gaps, and overlaps between council and Melbourne Water records.
• Created new waterbody databases from multiple sources, enhancing reliability.
• Maintained full transparency in methodology, assumptions, and constraints.

Rain provided Melbourne Water and all councils with a comprehensive, independently verified asset database, a powerful interactive dashboard, and clear visuals on the impacts of asset transfers. The intensive council engagement ensured buy-in and practical ownership of results. The work confirmed that most asset changes were modest (under 1% net for pipes, pits, and bridges). However, it also revealed significant shifts in wetlands and retarding basins, arming councils with data to plan for the transition.

Melbourne Water and councils will use the dashboard and data to guide handover planning, targeted site checks, and ongoing updates. The approach sets a new benchmark for collaboration, transparency, and repeatability in the management of metro-scale drainage assets.