The Werribee river condition is rated as ‘Good’ in the upper catchment and through the Rowsley Fault by Melbourne Water (Melbourne Water 2007), since significant sections are protected as State parks. This means that the riparian vegetation is native and diverse. In the plains, both the upper basalt floodplain (before the Rowsley fault), and the floodplain around Werribee, the river condition is considered ‘Moderate to Poor’. This is due to the change in the surrounding environment through the predominate presence of exotic flora and river flow regulation. To mitigate the effect of rapid urban development, considerable improvement in the quality of water draining from urban developments is being achieved through the creation of temporary storage areas, e.g. urban forests, and integrating stormwater treatment into the landscape; e.g. wetlands. However, one of the most significant concerns is blooms of potential toxic blue-green algae (Cottingham 1997). This concern has arisen because of the significant agricultural and urban run-offs into the river system in this area. To date, the limited monitoring that has been undertaken at some locations has observed high nitrogen and phosphorous levels, 27 mg/L and 1.4 mg/L, respectively. Note, however, that this is partly due to the naturally high nitrogen levels of the river (EPA Victoria 2000). Unfortunately, water monitoring on the Werribee river has been severely limited. Thus, SSF Australia is undertaking a detailed water monitoring program in conjunction with the local Waterkeepers community group. The program is currently monitoring the monthly condition of the Werribee river at 13 sites for standard parameters of temperature, flow, pH, conductivity, turbidity, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate, chlorine and macro invertebrates count.