The major waterways within the catchment are the Yarra River and Gardiners Creek.The headwaters of both these waterways are outside of Boroondara and flooding in the waterways is in part the result of the larger upstream catchments.

There have been several historical floods in Boroondara since its settlement. Large flood events have been the result of either large regional or localised rainfall.

Flooding from regional areas is typically from the Yarra River or Gardiners Creek. Localised flooding occurs from rainfall events when the amounts of run-off exceeds the capacity of the underground drainage system and established overland flow paths.

Historically, several major floods have affected people living in this area, such as:

• In December 2016, Glen Iris was one of the worst hit suburbs after a severe storm that caused flash flooding, closing roads and causing delays in train services across the city

• SES received over 1200 calls for assistance

•  In February 2011, 146 millimetres of rain fell within 15 hours, leading to a flood that measured 5.6 metres on the Gardiners Creek Gauge. This resulted in the flooding of properties on Gardiner Parade, Glen Iris and the Solway Pedestrian Bridge being washed away

• In both the 2004 and 2006 floods, the Ashburton train station had water up to the platform.