http://www.melbournewater.com.au/content/riversandcreeks/communityandcouncils/streamfrontagemanagement.asp

Melbourne Water, as the regional waterway manager for most of the Port Phillip and Westernport catchment, works to protect and improve the condition of our rivers and creeks. Rehabilitation of stream frontage is an urgent priority, and is a task most successfully achieved in partnership with landowners, Landcare and other community groups. To address this, Melbourne Water developed the Stream Frontage Management Program.

The Stream Frontage Management Program operates in targeted catchments to assist landowners to protect, improve and manage private freehold and leased stream frontages. The program targets degraded rural waterway frontages across the Port Phillip and Westernport drainage basins. Participating landowners are offered funding assistance, technical advice and educational opportunities. Funding may be ongoing for several years if a project needs to be done in stages.

The most common works required are weed and vermin control, fencing to exclude stock, and revegetation of banks with indigenous plants.

Around 1900 grants totalling almost $5 million have been provided to landholders since the program started in 1996, with the funding used to erect almost 500 kilometres of fencing and plant 746,000 trees and shrubs. For more information on stream frontage management, phone Melbourne Water on 131 722.