Melbourne's flood alert system will be overhauled after more than 500 homes and businesses were inundated without warning, with the Bureau of Meteorology taking the lead.
Melbourne Water, the bureau and the Victoria State Emergency Service will work together to improve flood forecasts and warning systems following the Maribyrnong disaster in October.
Responsibility for flood warnings and forecasts will be transferred to the BOM, bringing Melbourne in line with the rest of Australia.
After the flash flood event, Melbourne Water was criticised by northwest Melbourne residents who said warnings came too late.
At Chifley Drive in Maribyrnong, the river rose from a minor flood level of 1.7m at 4.25am on October 14 to a major flood level of 2.9m two hours later.
Melbourne Water, in a 36-page submission to its Maribyrnong Flood inquiry, admitted the river rose faster than its modelling predicted.
"We know that every minute counts in a flood emergency," Melbourne Water managing director Nerina Di Lorenzo said
"Simplifying the process of generating flood warnings between our agencies will further improve timeframes and better support our community when extreme weather events occur."
Melbourne Water will continue to provide the VICSES with flash flood intelligence to streamline warnings into the future.
"This implementation group will ensure a consistent approach to riverine flood predictions and warnings for communities across the whole of Victoria," VISES chief officer operations Tim Wiebusch said in a statement.
An independent review panel continues to investigate the Maribyrnong flood, including the impact of the Flemington Racecourse flood levee, which saved the Melbourne Cup track as the surrounding area flooded.
Melbourne Water last commissioned modelling for the lower Maribyrnong River in 2003.
The review panel report will be submitted to Melbourne Water later this year, before it is handed to the Victorian government ahead of a public release slated for November.
The Maribyrnong flood will also be considered by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the 2022 floods, which closes to submissions on Monday.
