One of Carlo Catani’s foremost swamp reclamation schemes saw the opening up of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land and new village settlements and a host of new roadways.

The Koo Wee Rup Swamp was drained between 1889 and 1893 by the creation of the Main Drain, that took the water from the Bunyip River where it entered the swamp, south of Bunyip, in a straight cut of 16 miles (25 kilometres) to Western Port Bay. There were also a number of smaller drains. This drainage scheme was initially devised by William Thwaites, Public Works Department Engineer, while the work was undertaken by contractors. In 1893, the Swamp was considered dry enough for settlement.

In 1893, the Public Works Department took back control of drainage works from the contractors and under Carlo Catani introduced the Village Settlement Scheme. Under this scheme all men who wished to work on the Swamp had to be unemployed and married. The men were to accept a block of land of up to 20 acres (8 hectares) They alternated their labour between two weeks on the swamp drains for wages, and two weeks on clearing and improving their own blocks.

The first 103 blocks under this scheme were allocated in April 1893. This scheme wasn’t completely successful as many of the men were unaccustomed to physical labour and had little or no farming or drainage experience. Their wives especially led isolated lives. While some new settlers were successful farmers, others could only rely on their drain digging pay. By the cessation of the scheme in November 1897, less fortunate settlers who could not find alternate employment were to sadly move on.

The Village Settlement Scheme on the Swamp was abandoned in 1899 and the land was opened for selection in the regular way.

Despite the miles of drains, the region suffered extensively from many floods. On one such occasion in April 1900, Carlo Catani (in no doubt carrying a sense of deep responsibility and care) would soon spearhead an emergency relief train from Melbourne, arriving with flood boats and essential provisions for the beleaguered residents of Bunyip and to: ‘….take such steps as may be necessary for the protection of life and property on the Village Settlement’ - Warragul Guardian, April 17, 1900.

Over the years more and more drains were dug, with catch drains added to existing drains or enlarged. Until his retirement in 1917, much of this work was planned by and undertaken under the supervision of Carlo Catani.

In June 1912, Carlo Catani left Melbourne for a four month visit to Europe.

One of his projects was to obtain a dredge to work on the drainage of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. The dredge selected was the Lubecker steam driven dredge, from the town of Lubeck, Germany. It was described as being of the articulated ladder type; it ran on rails and had a nine-man crew. It weighed 80 tons and had a capacity of 61 cubic yards per hour or approximately 200,000 cubic yards per annum when working one shift. A labourer at the time dug about 8 cubic metres per day. The purchase price was £2,300 pounds, plus £632 duty. The total cost landed, erected with rails, cranes and other equipment came to £4,716.

The dredge arrived in June 1913 and was put to work on the Lang Lang River. Upon completion of its work at the river in 1916, it was put to work on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp on the Main Drain, the Cardinia Creek and the Yallock Drain. It was still being used in 1935 and its specific history after that date is unknown.

All that remains of this dredge today are a set of wheels at the Swamp lookout tower, on the South Gippsland Highway at Koo Wee Rup.