Victoria’s strategies for the management of land, water and biodiversity are supported by evidence-based decision-making. The government’s new Water for Victoria: Water Plan provides a plan for a future with less water as Victoria responds to the impact of climate change and growing population. Policy directions for improving waterway and catchment health focus on protecting waterways and their catchments from the adverse impacts of future human use and major investment of $222 million over four years to improve the health of priority waterways and catchments. Management and investment effort will be focused on large-scale projects for 36 waterways, with 10 of these trialling a new approach to track progress towards management objectives and report back to communities, incorporating citizen science. Victoria is establishing a waterway research hub to support a more coordinated, strategic research and monitoring approach that will improve information and knowledge about catchments and waterways. Existing waterway health monitoring programs will be refined to have a better mix of evidence to support continued improvements in decision making and a greater focus on monitoring the changes that result from management actions. Demonstrating the progress and value of management efforts back to communities will increasingly include information on social, cultural and economic benefits arising from waterway management.