Vegetation Extent Priorities for Melbourne Water Stream Reaches

This dataset classifies stream reaches across the Melbourne Water region as high, medium, or low priority for vegetation extent. It was created by Melbourne Water Corporation using decision support tools and a co-design process to meet the objectives of the Healthy Waterways Strategy 2018. The data is intended for waterway planning and covers nearly the entire Melbourne Water region.

Use Cases

• Map high priority stream reaches requiring revegetation by 2028 to meet Healthy Waterways Strategy performance objectives.
• Analyze the spatial distribution of medium priority reaches, which have a target revegetation date of 2068.
• Support catchment planning by integrating priority classifications with other geospatial layers for habitat suitability modeling.
• Prioritize management actions for improving instream habitat suitability for species like platypus, fish, and macroinvertebrates based on the Zonation tool output.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Melbourne Water region, excluding only very small coastal areas.
• Classifications (high, medium, low) are defined by specific, time-bound performance objectives from the Healthy Waterways Strategy 2018.
• Developed using a combination of a formal decision support tool (Zonation) and a stakeholder co-design process.

Limitations

• Excludes very small areas close to Port Phillip Bay and Western Port, such as parts of French Island.
• The data is considered fit for planning purposes but comes with a disclaimer regarding accuracy and completeness.
• Specific quantitative metrics like row count, column count, or sample size are not provided.

Provenance

Source

Melbourne Water Corporation via the Melbourne Water Open Data Hub.

Collection Method

Created using the Streams dataset for the Healthy Waterways Strategy 2018, processed by GraceGIS with Melbourne Water inputs, and prioritized using the Zonation decision support tool.

Time Range

Associated with the Healthy Waterways Strategy 2018, with revegetation targets set for 2028 and 2068.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-03-20.

Geography

Melbourne Water region, Victoria, Australia.