Special water supply catchment areas

It’s important to protect the quality of water by protecting our natural environment. By having safeguards in place, we can protect our catchments and the quality of our water for health, agricultural and industrial uses.

Provisions to support the protection of water supply and quality from existing or potential land use impacts exist under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 through declared special areas classified as special water supply catchment areas.

An up-to-date list of special water supply catchment areas is provided below. This list varies from the historical list in Schedule 5 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Changes include the declaration of Barham River and revocation of Skenes Creek and West Barham catchments in 2009, and corrections to area of square kilometres.

View the list

Special Water Supply Catchment Areas (PDF, 164.4 KB). Accessible version (DOCX, 61.9 KB)

Land use planning

Everything we do on land within special water supply catchment areas can affect the quality of our water. Development can affect water quality through run-off and waste contamination entering our catchments. Farming activities can affect the quality of our water when nutrients and sediments flow into our waterways.

Guidelines have been developed to help responsible authorities assess planning permit applications for the use and development of land within open, special water supply catchment areas. Water corporations are the determining referral authority within the Victoria Planning Provisions ensuring that all use and development is sited and managed to protect the quality of water collected from the catchment.

Read the guidelines

Planning permit applications in open, potable water supply catchment areas (PDF, 979.0 KB). Accessible version (DOCX, 47.9 KB)