Waterways, Victoria

Construction on Waterways Estate began in May 2000, due to end within five years. The name "Waterways" comes from a number of man-made lakes, lagoons and wetlands in and around the estate, which form an interconnected waterway to the Mordialloc Creek and a wildlife corridor connecting Braeside Park to its north and the Edithvale Wetlands to its south. Melbourne Water uses these waters as a filtration system for the (typically polluted) urban water flowing down from Dandenong and Mordialloc Creeks then into Port Phillip Bay.

Although the development was due to be completed in 2006, the developer applied for, and was subsequently granted permission from Kingston Council to increase the suburb's size. The final stage of the development, called Argyle, was completed in July 2011.

Waterways was rated higher than Toorak, Brighton or Canterbury – or anywhere else, apart from the 63 people living on South Wharf – in an index of socio-economic advantage compiled from the 2011 census.[2]

Waterways have multiple bodies of water interconnected by channels, underground aqueducts and wetlands, all surrounding an elongated land known as "the Island". Going clockwise from the northwest are the following:

• Sunset Lagoon — east of the Mordialloc Freeway, northwest of the island and immediately south of Governor Road.
• Portland Lagoon — west of Bowen Parkway and north of Portland Place, separated from Sunset Lagoon by a wetland and boardwalk.
• Waterways Lake — east of Bowen Parkway, north of the Island and south of Waterside Drive, the only waterbody of Waterways that allows boating.
• St. Clair Lagoon — east of the Island and west of Springvale Road, separated from Waterways Lake by Island Point Avenue (an U-bend of Waterside Drive).
• Pelican Lagoon — north of Mordialloc Creek and south of the Island, separated from St. Clair Lagoon by a small peninsula.
• Black Swan Lagoon — north of Mordialloc Creek, southwest of the Island and east of Bowen Parkway, separated from Pelican Lagoon by a wetland and boardwalk.
• Parkway Lagoon — north of Mordialloc Creek, east of Bowen Parkway and partly overpassed by the Mordialloc Freeway, separated from Black Swan Lagoon by an isthmus with a dirt/muddy trail, the smallest of all lagoons.
• Westbridge Lagoon — east of Mordialloc Freeway and west of Bowen Parkway and the Island, separated from Sunset Lagoon by a grassland that can serve as a retarding basin in case of flooding.
• Mordi Yallock Lagoon — west of (and separated from the other waterbodies by) Mordialloc Freeway and north of Mordialloc Creek, the largest of all lagoons.

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  Waterways Lake, viewed from the lakeside cafe
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  Waterways Lake, viewed from the eastern end
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  Sunset Lagoon, viewed from the boardwalk pier
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  Aerial shot of western Waterways (prior to construction of the Peninsula Freeway), viewing southwest towards Port Phillip Bay
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  Aerial shot of eastern Waterways (prior to construction of the Peninsula Freeway), viewing southeast towards Bangholme
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  Sunset at Waterways Lake, viewed from the main pier on the north shore near Waterways Boulevard
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  Lakeside residence, viewed across the lake from the main pier
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  The boardwalk traversing the Portland Lagoon wetlands, viewed from the pier branch at the eastern end of Sunset Lagoon
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  Portland Lagoon, viewed from the western boardwalk
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  Pier at eastern end of Waterways Lake
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  Waterways Art
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  Aerial shot of Portland Lagoon (near) and Waterways Lake (far), viewed from the west