10-Year Stormwater Management Plan – Yarra Ranges

Rain delivered a ten-year Stormwater Management Plan (2024-2034) for Yarra Ranges Council, which sets a municipality-wide vision, objectives, and action program for smarter, integrated stormwater management. Covering Victoria’s largest local government area by land size and an 800 km drainage network, the plan harmonises local actions with state and federal policy while safeguarding waterways, landscapes and communities from flood and pollution impacts.

Above & Beyond Strategies

The Yarra Ranges faces rapid urban growth, ageing drainage systems, constrained funding, and intensifying climate-driven rainfall that threaten 1,962 km of waterways and more than 4,900 flood-prone properties.

A Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) was required to coordinate limited resources, modernise standards and build resilience across 2,450 square kilometres of diverse terrain.

Rain delivered the following solutions.

• Integrated federal, state and local policies and guidelines into a coherent municipal framework. Rain mapped all relevant strategies and legislation into the plan’s policy matrix.
• Provide climate-ready technical standards by updating Development Engineering Guidelines to allow for a rainfall-intensity uplift.
• Complete flood modelling and mapping for 49 catchments and prioritise upgrades.
• Develop a catchment-based DCI (Directly Connected Imperviousness) prioritisation to protect high-value waterways.
• Prepare an implementation schedule with clear action IDs, costs, partners and 2034 horizon.
• Embed community voice through a new Community Reference Panel and broad engagement program.
• Formalise partnerships with Melbourne Water, DEECA and others for modelling, WSUD and funding.
• Establish biennial reporting and monitoring to track progress and adapt.

Rain produced an evidence-based roadmap that ranks catchments, sets measurable targets for flood risk reduction, pollutant load cuts and blue-green infrastructure, and secures cross-agency commitments.

The plan equips the Council with a staged capital works pipeline, updated development controls, and a governance framework that will guide investment, community education, and ecological protection through 2034.

Providing a launchpad to significantly improve flood management and waterway health outcomes across the municipality.