Guidelines

The following guidelines can be used to help with your proposed development.

General guidelines

General guidelines

Flood Impact Afflux Practice Note - Floodplain Development Impact Assessment PDF|691.11 KB

Guidelines for Development in Flood Affected Areas 

Pre-Planning Services in Greenfield Development Areas FAQ DOCX|137.91 KB

Guidance on development application requirements PDF|771.54 KB

Guidance on development application requirements (accessible version) DOCX|512.31 KB

Guidance Note - Changes to DSS or its assets PDF|184.43 KB

Jetties approval summary brochure PDF|172.36 KB

Guidelines for Development within the Koo Wee Rup and Longwarry Flood Protection District PDF|6.08 MB

See our webpage at Planning for sea level rise guidelines.

Minimum Referral Requirements Checklist DOCX|94.77 KB

Reimbursement assessment template XLS|91 KB

Retarding Basin Design Assessment Guideline PDF|415.54 KB

Security and Retention for Developer Instigated Works PDF|48.82 KB

Shallow lake systems design guidelines PDF|538.37 KB

Site layout and landscaping guidelines PDF|270.36 KB

Stormwater Management Strategy Template Guidance DOCX|672.86 KB

Waterway corridors - Greenfield development guidelines PDF|2.71 MB

 

Works guidelines

Works guidelines

Build over guidelines PDF|213.43 KB

Constructing waterway crossings guidelines PDF|4.07 MB

Jetties approval guidelines PDF|1.33 MB

Planting near sewers, drains and water mains guideline DOCX|1.93 MB

Shared pathways guidelines PDF|2.05 MB

Utility installation guidelines PDF|191.24 KB

 

Construction guidelines

Construction guidelines

Box culvert with concrete wingwall and cutoff medium creek crossing guidelines PDF|103.13 KB

Resetting sediment ponds - Best practice guide PDF|7.73 MB

Service crossing open trench medium creek crossing - guidelines PDF|224.64 KB

Single span bridge crossing guidelines PDF|130.62 KB

Specification -21.A.038 - Sands and crushed rocks PDF|77.28 KB

Specification-21.A.038-Sands-and-crushed-rock PDF|77.28 KB

Temporary erosion and weed control matting - specification for constructed Melbourne Water assets PDF|500.69 KB

Topsoil specification for landscaping of constructed Melbourne Water assets PDF|351.48 KB

 

Waterway design manual

Waterway design manual

Constructed waterway design manual - full document PDF|19.61 MB

Download specific sections:

Constructed waterway design manual - introduction PDF|1.05 MB

Constructed waterway design manual - Part A: Vision, outcomes and criteria PDF|1.09 MB

Constructed waterway design manual - Part B: Design approach and fundamentals PDF|3.55 MB

Constructed waterway design manual - Part C: Design acceptance process and deemed to comply PDF|1.93 MB

Constructed waterway design manual - Part D: Technical design elements PDF|10.27 MB

Constructed waterway design manual - Part E: Design tools and resources PDF|3.11 MB

AM GUI Grade Control Structure (Rock Chute) Installation Guide DOCX|790.23 KB

Wetland design manual

Wetland design manual

Wetland design manual - Part A1 Introduction PDF|343.49 KB

Wetland design manual - Part A1 Vision, core and aspirational outcomes PDF|430.59 KB

Wetland design manual - Part A2 Deemed to comply design criteria PDF|4.83 MB

Wetland design manual - Part A3 Design considerations for wetlands PDF|497.96 KB

Wetland design manual - Part B Design acceptance process PDF|743.51 KB

Wetland design manual - Part C Technical design, construction and establishment approach PDF|1.38 MB

Wetland design manual - Part D Design tools, resources and glossary PDF|580.05 KB

Wetland design manual - Supporting document: Form and function PDF|2.09 MB

Wetland design manual - Supporting document: Planning, funding and management PDF|408.83 KB

Wetland design manual FAQs – design, construction and establishment of wetlands PDF|54.11 KB

 

Biofiltration system guidelines

Biofiltration systems in Development Services Schemes - Guideline PDF|3.79 MB

 

WSUD guidelines

WSUD guidelines

Read more about the new WSUD audit guidelines and toolkit on the MUSIC Auditor website.

South Eastern councils WSUD guidelines PDF|1.6 MB

Stormwater harvesting guidelines PDF|358.2 KB

Stormwater harvesting technical guidelines PDF|1.67 MB

Stormwater quality offset scheme PDF|271.82 KB

WSUD life cycle costing PDF|844.25 KB

WSUD Maintenance - Asset manager guidelines PDF|2.47 MB

WSUD Maintenance - Inspection and maintenance activity guidelines PDF|466.28 KB

 

MUSIC guidelines 2026

Melbourne Water has released an updated version of the MUSIC (Model for Urban Stormwater Improvement Conceptualisation) Modelling guideline.  

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on modelling approaches and input parameters for MUSIC models that are submitted to Melbourne Water. 

The new guideline is available below along with the rainfall templates, and associated maps.

This revision builds on the 2024 edition by providing new guidance, including: 

• stormwater objectives including harvesting/evapotranspiration and infiltration objectives 
• guidance on infiltration 
• modelling approaches for emerging asset types that support harvesting/evapotranspiration and infiltration objectives and greater flexibility 
• calculation methods for stormwater harvesting/evapotranspiration and infiltration objectives. 

The emerging asset types covered in this document are: 

• passively watered trees 
• vegetated sponges 
• ephemeral stormwater wetlands 
• wicking beds 
• slow release rainwater tanks 
• permeable paving. 

A state of knowledge document outlining the current understanding of these assets has been developed alongside this guideline. It is anticipated that further documents building on this will be released in the future, reflecting the evolving state of knowledge. This document can be found on the Clearwater Website.

Models should use the 2024 rainfall templates.

Current tool guidelines

MUSIC Guideline 2026 PDF|5.21 MB

MUSIC rainfall templates 2024 ZIP|639.34 KB

Rainfall distribution map 2024 PDF|631.56 KB

ESRI rainfall distribution map 2024 ZIP|1.95 MB

Map info rainfall distribution map 2024 ZIP|1.35 MB

 

Vegetation

Vegetation

Aquatic Plant Installation Standard PDF|878.51 KB

Aquatic Plant Supply Standard PDF|580.61 KB

Ephemeral & Terrestrial Plant Installation Standard PDF|3.41 MB

Ephemeral & Terrestrial Plant Supply Standard PDF|647.49 KB

Pest Plant Guideline PDF|1.83 MB

Plant Selection and Provenance Standard PDF|518.75 KB

Waterway Vegetation EVC Species Templates PDF|20.49 MB

Waterway Bank Protection Rockwork Installation Guide DOCX|111.41 KB

Healthy Waterways Strategy stormwater targets guidance

HWS Stormwater Targets - Practitioner's Note DOCX|18.97 MB

HWS Stormwater Targets - Practitioner's Note PDF|2.52 MB

Contact us

If you need any help, contact us:

 131 722

 [email protected]

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