Melbourne is the capital city of southeastern Australian state of Victoria and also the nation's second most populous city, and has been consistently voted one of the most liveable cities in the world. Located on the northern/eastern coastal plains of Port Phillip Bay, the city is one of the drier capital cities in Australia (with an annual rainfall only half of Sydney's), but due to its relatively flat terrain and the runoffs fed from surrounding highlands, still has many lakes, ponds and wetlands, mainly managed by Melbourne Water and Parks Victoria. The larger waterbodies are used for water sports, mostly boating (especially sailing, rowing, canoeing and kayaking) but some are used for recreational activities like swimming, water skiing or model boating.
Melbourne also has a number of major artificial lakes as storage reservoirs that supply the city's drinking water, as well as many smaller service reservoirs or retention ponds used either for stormwater management or as auxiliary water storage for drinking supply or agricultural usage during dry seasons. Some of the smaller lakes and ponds are used as wildlife sanctuaries and as parklands for community pastimes such as angling and birdwatching.
The Yarra River, the main urban river of Melbourne, hosts many small wetlands and billabongs particularly through its middle reaches in the Yarra Valley, many of which are not named and are not included here. This article does not include lakes and reservoirs outside of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area, for information on other lakes in Victoria see the List of reservoirs and dams in Australia.
Book: Viggers . James I. . Weaver . Haylee J. . Lindenmayer . David B. . David Lindenmayer . Melbourne's Water Catchments . CSIRO Publishing . 2013 . Melbourne . 9781486300068 .