Melbourne’s drainage system directs stormwater away from urban areas to reduce the risk of flooding, but extreme rainfall can still sometimes cause floods.

Retarding basins play an important role in reducing flood risk, temporarily storing stormwater during very high rainfall.

Melbourne Water has played a significant role in Melbourne’s development, from creating our underground sewerage system in the 1890s to completing Thomson Reservoir, Melbourne’s largest water supply reservoir in 1984.

Find out more about key moments in our organisation’s history.​

We are responsible for managing different types of heritage, including built, indigenous, contact and natural heritage.​

Access to clean water has shaped human settlements throughout history, and Melbourne is no different.

Follow the history of Melbourne’s sewerage, from open sewers and thunderboxes to sustainable resource management and recovery.

Get to know Melbourne’s 10 major water storage reservoirs, which help secure our water supply now and into the future.

View facts and historical rainfall data for Cardinia, Melbourne’s second-largest reservoir.

View facts and historical rainfall data for Greenvale Reservoir, built to supply Melbourne’s growing west.