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Victorian Waterway Management Strategy: third edition
The Victorian Waterway Management Strategy sets out a plan for managing Victoria's waterways over the next 10 years. Waterways include rivers, wetlands, estuaries and floodplains.
The strategy helps protect and improve the health of waterways while recognising the many ways people use and value them.
This updated strategy builds on more than 20 years of experience. It uses lessons learned from past waterway management and provides a clear direction for the next decade.
It outlines policies and actions to support healthy waterways across Victoria. A key change in the strategy is the recognition of waterways as living entities. This approach supports the Water is Life roadmap and highlights the cultural and environmental importance of water.
The previous Victorian Waterway Management Strategy was released in 2013. This new strategy replaces the 2013 version.
Development of the strategy: What we heard report
Feedback from stakeholders helped inform the development of the strategy.
The What we heard report explains what people told us during consultation and how their feedback helped shape the strategy. The report provides a summary of feedback for each chapter.
Implementing the strategy
The strategy will be delivered over the next 10 years.
Implementation of the strategy will be supported by a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. This framework will help track progress and guide reporting by the organisations and groups responsible for delivering actions in the strategy.
Page last updated: 28/10/26