Melburnians will benefit from improved flood forecasts, warnings, and access to data as part of improvements made by the bureau of Meteorology and Melbourne Water.
From 1 July, the bureau is responsible for riverine flood forecasts and warnings for Greater Melbourne.
Until recently, Melbourne Water has been responsible for the assessment and issue of riverine flood forecasts and warnings, with the bureau publishing the warnings on Melbourne Water's behalf.
The bureau now assesses and generates warnings in addition to issuing them, streamlining the flood warning process.
The Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) maintains responsibility for issuing more localised community warnings and calls to action on the VicEmergency app.
Bureau General Manager Decision Support Services Chantal Donnelly said the changes align riverine flood forecasting and warnings with national standards.
"Greater Melbourne is now consistent with the bureau's flood forecast services across the rest of Victoria and nationally," Ms Donnelly said.
"The bureau has a deep level of expertise in flood forecasting with dedicated meteorologists and hydrologists analysing rainfall and river data to help Melburnians and emergency services prepare in flood events".
"The community now has access to the latest flood warnings and observed rainfall and river conditions on the bureau's website."
The bureau now provides the riverine observations, flood forecasting and warning services for 27 forecast locations across the Greater Melbourne catchments, including:
• Werribee River catchment
• Maribyrnong River catchment
• Yarra River catchment
• Dandenong Creek catchment
• Bunyip River catchment.
Yarra catchment flood warnings are now issued separately for upper and lower parts of the catchment. This is in response to community feedback and means communities receive warnings most relevant to them.
Melbourne Water Acting Executive General Manager Service Delivery Nirooshan Sachchithananthan said the transition means the community will receive a more streamlined flood warning process.
"As a part of this transition, we've worked closely with the bureau to establish a continuous data feed of our rainfall and river level gauges across Greater Melbourne," Mr Sachchithananthan said.
"Going forward, this data feed means that rainfall and river conditions are readily accessible to the community on the bureau's website."
The Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) will continue to issue more localised community flood warnings and calls to action on the VicEmergency website, app and social media channels, as well as publishing the bureau's warnings.
"In line with the Inquiry recommendations from the 2022 Victorian flood event, these changes create a more consistent flood warning system for Victorians," VICSES Chief Officer Operations Alistair Drayton said.
"This means giving communities access to reliable information, while helping VICSES coordinate effective emergency warnings and response during flood events."
Get riverine flood watches and warnings along with warnings for severe weather and severe thunderstorms through bom.gov.au and the BOM Weather app.
