The Water Security Plan outlines a range of potential options to cater for future water demand across Melbourne, Geelong and connected regions such as parts of Gippsland.
The new plan will see investigations begin looking into how to boost available water and help make us less dependent on rainfall. Over the past 27 years, inflows into Melbourne’s major water storages have declined by 17%.
Demand for water could exceed the available supply over the next decade as our population grows and our climate dries. This means we need to look at options such as increasing water efficiency, the potential expansion of desalination and using more stormwater and recycled water.
This year has been one of the driest on record across central and western Victoria, which has seen the need to utilise Victoria’s desalination plant to bolster Melbourne’s water storages and support Geelong’s supplies. So far in 2025, just over 25 billion litres of water has been delivered helping maintain Melbourne’s water storages at over 70% capacity.
Page last updated: 25/09/25