Water management in the Netherlands

november 10th, 2010

Our area in the Middle Ages

• Early settlements of farmers

• Land is surrounded by water

• Sea, estuaries and lakes create a constant threat to land and inhabitants

Throughout the centuries

• People struggle against the water

• Many floodings

• Many people die

• ‘Pump or drown’

1799

•

1799

1809

1809

1953: The last big flood disaster in the Netherlands

Our area today

inhabitants: 1.1 mln

buildings: € 125 billion ($ 175 billion)

seadikes: 343 km (214 mls)

inland dikes: 1486 km (928

mls)

Today

We improve our dikes

Today

We reinforce our dunes

Today

We strengthen our levees

Today

We build strong dams

We build powerful pumping stations

Today

Today

We create water retaining reservoirs

Today

We build powerful barriers

Just for a bad day......

Foto: Rijkswaterstaat

And even today.............

..........sometimes there is a narrow escape

If there were no dikes and levees.........

.......two third of the country would regularly be flooded

How do we protect our dikes?

• Separate waterauthorities (waterboards) for the management of water systems and the maintenance of dikes

And..........

• Separate taxes for water management and maintenance of water works

• Dimensions of dikes are recorded in a register (‘legger’)

• Strict laws and ordinances to protect water systems and water works (‘keur’)

• Permits needed for activities on dikes, such as digging and building

Thank you for your attention

Questions?