title: Water Sensitive Bendigo and Integrated Water Management Plan council: greater-bendigo state: vic category: infrastructure classification: MINOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:
- city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf
Water Sensitive Bendigo and Integrated Water Management Plan
Water Sensitive Bendigo is currently evidenced as an environmental implementation theme rather than as a fully published infrastructure plan in the available corpus. The February 2026 council agenda shows that the City completed a three-year plan for Water Sensitive Bendigo, completed stormwater treatment asset audits to inform an Integrated Water Management Plan, adopted a Stormwater Quality Offsets Policy, and was progressing the Integrated Water Management Plan to guide stormwater quality treatment assets (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The practical planning implication is that Greater Bendigo is moving from isolated creek-restoration and stormwater actions toward a more asset-based water management program, but the available source does not include the IWM Plan itself, its asset list, capital program, catchment priorities, design standards, or sequencing triggers (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
Background
The available evidence comes from Item 9.3, the Annual Environment Report 2024-25, in the Council Meeting Agenda for 16 February 2026 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.113). Officers prepared the Annual Environment Report to report progress against the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026 and subsidiary environmental plans (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.113). The report states that its indicators are derived from the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026 and that some indicators and targets were updated to make them measurable and meaningful (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.116).
Water Sensitive Bendigo sits within the Annual Environment Report as Theme 6, alongside other climate and environment themes including biodiversity, zero carbon, circular economy, active and sustainable transport, sustainable food systems, and climate resilience (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.118). The Annual Environment Report states that current priorities include refreshing the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026 to identify new priority actions for 2026-2031 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.114).
Analysis
Water Management Mechanism
The clearest mechanism in the source is the link between stormwater asset audits and the Integrated Water Management Plan. The City completed audits of stormwater treatment assets to inform the Integrated Water Management Plan, and the plan is described as providing strategic direction for the City’s stormwater quality treatment assets (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134). In plain terms, the audits are the stocktake, and the IWM Plan is intended to decide what the City does with that stocktake: which assets need renewal, where treatment is missing, and how stormwater quality assets should be managed over time (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The Stormwater Quality Offsets Policy is a second implementation mechanism because the City adopted it during 2024-25 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134). The source does not provide the policy text, contribution methodology, offset prices, eligible works, or governance arrangements, so this page cannot determine whether offsets are intended to substitute for on-site treatment, fund catchment-scale works, or close identified gaps in the stormwater treatment network (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
Waterway Restoration and Catchment Outcomes
The main completed place-based work identified in the source is the Bendigo Creek Instream works habitat restoration project between Weeroona Avenue and the railway bridge, delivered in partnership with DJAARA (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.114, 134). The Annual Environment Report says this project contributes to implementation of the Reimagining Bendigo Creek Plan by creating deep pools and restoring habitat between Weeroona Avenue and the railway bridge (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The source also records that funding was secured from DEECA for Bendigo’s Creeks: Grassy Green Links, which is to be delivered with DJAARA and involves restoring three sites with native grasses and other understorey plants (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134, 147). This indicates that the water-sensitive program is not only a drainage asset program; it also has a waterway habitat and cultural partnership component tied to creek corridors (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134, 147).
Potable Water and City Operations
The Annual Environment Report records potable water use of 305 ML in 2024-25 for City facilities, which is 17 ML below the 2023-24 level and 2 ML below the 2016 benchmark of 307 ML (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134, 144). The indicator is reported as on track against a 2026 target of a 3 percent reduction in potable water use from the 2016 baseline (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144). The source does not explain whether the 305 ML figure includes only potable water or also recycled and rural water, although the indicator label refers to potable, recycled, and rural water used in City facilities (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144).
This creates an interpretation gap for infrastructure planning. The available metric shows corporate water demand is being tracked, but it does not show which facilities use the most water, where recycled or alternative supplies are available, whether high-use sites are linked to open space irrigation, or whether future water-sensitive works will reduce potable demand at specific assets (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144).
Flood Mitigation and Drainage Dependencies
The Annual Environment Report links Water Sensitive Bendigo to flood-risk reduction through flood mitigation infrastructure and planning (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144). The Racecourse Creek levee and the Bendigo Creek levee from Howard Street to Leans Road were both reported as in progress, with detailed design expected to be completed by June 2026 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144). The Crusoe Reservoir Flood Mitigation Project was not an active project in 2024-25, while an additional Huntly drainage study was in progress and expected to be completed by the end of 2025 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144).
These flood and drainage items matter because they define parts of the water infrastructure work program that may affect land-use planning, asset renewal, and local flood-risk management. The source does not provide flood maps, benefiting areas, design standards, capital costs, land requirements, or development-control implications, so the downstream planning effect of each project cannot be quantified from this corpus (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144).
Data, Monitoring, and Accountability
The source identifies water quality monitoring as a major weakness. The Water Sensitive Bendigo theme lists collection of water quality data at strategic locations along creeks and rivers as an area for improvement (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134). The indicator for reactive phosphorus at key sites has no data collected for 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, or 2024-25, and its status is recorded as not applicable rather than on track or not on track (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.145).
This is the central analytical gap. Without strategic water quality monitoring, the City cannot use the available source to demonstrate whether stormwater treatment assets, offsets, creek restoration, or IWM actions are improving receiving-water conditions (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134, 145). The City was progressing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan in 2024-25, which suggests the monitoring gap has been recognised but not yet resolved in the available evidence (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
Partnerships and Delivery Capacity
The Water Sensitive Bendigo program relies on partnerships. The Bendigo Creek Instream works were delivered with DJAARA, the Grassy Green Links project is to be delivered with DJAARA using DEECA funding, and current priorities include restoration, community engagement, and monitoring along Bendigo Creek in partnership with DJAARA and the North Central CMA (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.114, 134).
However, the partnership funding indicator is not on track. The target was 500,000 leveraged for water initiatives through the Water Sensitive Bendigo partnership, but the report records 0 in 2022-23, 0 in 2023-24, and 0 in 2024-25 after $583,000 for Bendigo Creek in 2021-22 (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.145). This suggests delivery may depend on project-specific grants rather than a consistent annual partnership funding stream, although the source does not provide budget papers, funding agreements, or a capital pipeline to confirm that mechanism (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.145).
Current Status
As at the 16 February 2026 council agenda, the City had completed a three-year plan for Water Sensitive Bendigo, completed stormwater treatment asset audits, adopted the Stormwater Quality Offsets Policy, and was progressing an Integrated Water Management Plan for stormwater quality treatment assets (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.113, 134). Officers were also refreshing the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026 to identify new priority actions for 2026-2031, which may reset indicators and priorities for Water Sensitive Bendigo (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.113-116).
Dependencies
- Blocks: The available source does not identify any statutory planning approvals, rezonings, development areas, or infrastructure projects that are formally blocked by the IWM Plan (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
- Blocked by: Full implementation analysis is blocked by the absence of the Integrated Water Management Plan, the Water Quality Monitoring Plan, stormwater asset audit outputs, flood project design documents, and the Stormwater Quality Offsets Policy text (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134-145).
- Informed by: The available source says stormwater treatment asset audits were completed to inform the Integrated Water Management Plan (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
- Implements: The theme is reported through the Climate Change and Environment Strategy 2021-2026 framework and is linked to implementation of the Reimagining Bendigo Creek Plan through the Bendigo Creek Instream works (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.116, 134).
- Conflicts with: No conflict with another policy or initiative is identified in the available source (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134-145).
Cross-Jurisdictional Links
The available source identifies DJAARA, DEECA, and the North Central CMA as delivery or partnership actors for Bendigo Creek and creek-restoration work (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.114, 134). The source does not identify Coliban Water, adjacent councils, Melbourne Water, DTP, or other infrastructure authorities as delivery partners for the Integrated Water Management Plan (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134-145).
Gaps in This Analysis
The largest gap is the absence of the actual Integrated Water Management Plan. The available agenda confirms that the plan was being progressed, but it does not provide its objectives, asset hierarchy, catchment priorities, capital works list, water-quality targets, implementation schedule, governance model, or funding requirements (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The second gap is the absence of the stormwater treatment asset audit outputs. The agenda says audits were completed to inform the IWM Plan, but it does not identify asset condition, treatment performance, renewal priorities, locations, or costs (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The third gap is the absence of the Water Quality Monitoring Plan. The agenda says the plan was progressing, and the reactive phosphorus indicator has no collected data across the reported years, so the available corpus cannot assess whether waterway health is improving or declining (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, pp.134, 145).
The fourth gap is the absence of the Stormwater Quality Offsets Policy. The agenda says the City adopted the policy, but it does not include the policy mechanism, offset rates, eligibility tests, accounting method, or relationship to development approvals (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.134).
The fifth gap is the absence of detailed flood and drainage project documents for Racecourse Creek, Bendigo Creek, Crusoe Reservoir, and Huntly. The agenda records project status but does not provide catchment modelling, design levels, capital costs, land requirements, affected properties, or planning scheme implications (Source: city-greater-bendigo-council-meeting-agenda-february-16-2026.pdf, p.144).