Stormwater mapping

Our vision for Merri-bek as a water sensitive city includes adapting to weather extremes in a changing environment. 

In Merri-bek we have regional and local drainage catchments. Melbourne Water manages the (larger) regional catchments and Council manages the (smaller) local catchments. In the regional catchments:

  • Stormwater comes from the local catchments and flows into rivers and creeks.
  • Melbourne Water has regional (main) drainage infrastructure. 
  • Mapping for the regional stormwater flow paths has been included in the Moreland Planning Scheme and is shown by the Special Building Overlay, Schedule 1 (SBO1). These maps are on the Victorian Government's Planning website.     

Council has been doing mapping for our city's local drainage catchments, to find the location of the overland flow paths in these smaller catchments. The local catchments are where Council has local drainage infrastructure. In 2021 we shared this information with landowners who may be affected by stormwater overland flows during a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) rainfall event.  

The 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) event is a high-intensity storm that has only a 1% statistical chance of being exceeded in any one year.  During such a storm, heavy rainfall causes stormwater to go overland, along flow paths where there may be buildings, infrastructure, and properties. 

We have prepared and declared stormwater overland flow maps for the city's local catchments. We are continuing this mapping work so it can be included in the Moreland Planning Scheme as a Special Building Overlay, Schedule 2 (SBO2).

Having declared (local catchment) stormwater overland flow maps means affected land developers must initially get a 'flood level' from Council so they can effectively prepare their development proposals. Once prepared, a 'report and consent' is needed from Council before a building permit can be issued for new buildings, renovations, or other changes to properties.  

Declaration under the Building Regulations 2018

After community consultation in 2021, Council made a declaration under the Building Regulations for those properties affected by the 1% AEP stormwater maps in Merri-bek's local drainage catchments. This declaration was an important step, to help land developers manage stormwater impacts for their development proposals. 

See if your property is affected 

To determine if your property is affected by stormwater overland flows during a 1% AEP rainfall event in a:

My property is identified as prone to stormwater overland flows in a local catchment, now what?  

We will work with you by using a two-step approvals process when you are planning any building works: 

Step 1: Lodge a Flood Level Application for preliminary advice. 

  1. Register with Council Online Services. As a registered user, you don't need to re-enter your personal information and can keep track of requests and applications on any device.
  2. Apply for a flood level certificate. You need to sign in to Council Online Services to apply.
  3. As part of the online application process, the fee is paid online by Visa or MasterCard. The 2022-23 fee for flood level certificate from Council is $51.50. The 2023-24 fee for flood level certificate from Council is $53. 

Apply for a flood level certificate

Step 2: Once the design is finished, lodge a Report and Consent application to Council.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact our Customer Contact Centre at 9240 1111 or info@moreland.vic.gov.au.