The Victorian Government hopes a unified front will help clean the famously brown Yarra River.

The Government is looking to set up a single trust to manage all 240 kilometres of the Yarra, which runs through the city of Melbourne and provides about 70 per cent of its drinking water.

Authorities are considering over 100 community submissions to an advisory committee that will steer progress on a new Yarra River Protection Act.

The river is currently run by multiple local councils, water and sewerage authorities.

The Yarra River Keeper Association is one of dozens of groups to lodge proposals for the future running of the iconic river.

It wants to protect the Yarra from urban development, pollution, and wildlife habitat destruction while maintaining public access.

Yarra River Keeper Andrew Kelly has told ABC reporters that large scale coordination is needed.

“The river lacks a champion,” he said.

“The river needs to be seen as a connected whole from the mountains to the bay; you can't really plan for it in bits and pieces.”

Another organisation called the Yarra Swim Co says it wants to build a floating swimming pool on the river in the CBD, and bring back the historic Three Mile Yarra Swim race.

It made a submission to the River Protection Act advisory committee outlining a vision of a swimmable Yarra.

“Kind of changing the perception of the idea of it being permanently polluted, and the fact that we can actually have a river where we could be swimming once again like they used to,” he said.

“You'll talk to many people from overseas and if they know Melbourne they will probably mention the dirty Yarra.

“So I'm quite excited by the idea of turning that around, and the pride that people could have in cleaning up the river as we move forward.”