New water management in the Netherlands

Clean water is nothing special – well, at least, that is what we think. We do not only drink water, we flush the toilet with it, we wash our cars with it and we swim in it. Water is so obvious, that we only notice it when there is a surplus or a shortage. When the waterworks are under maintenance and there is no water coming from the tap, or when you cannot drink the water when you are abroad, you discover how special clean water really is. The same applies to rivers and seawater. During a hot summer's day, the refreshing waves are very welcome, but if your cellar is filled with seawater, you are probably not so happy with it anymore. Since dikes are very rarely breached, the balance between water and land is somewhat taken for granted. The fact is that a lot of people are working continually arond the clock to ensure that none of the dams or dikes are overcome.

Changing climates

In the near future, it will become increasingly difficult to take water for granted as we do now. The likelihood of floods will rise, for instance. Because the earth is slowly heating up, ice formations will melt, and the total water volume within the seas and rivers will increase and eventually, the water levels will rise. These developments will have severe consequences for the safety of people living in coastal areas. Since approximately half of the Netherlands is below sea level, any climate changes will probably have their influence on the millions of people living in these areas. Another threat facing the Dutch is subsidence.
Despite rising sea levels and subsidence, another factor which will face hydraulic engineers is the inevitable change in the weather: the Netherlands will see higher temperatures and therefore extra rates of precipitation too. By the year 2100, average temperatures will be between 1 and 6 degrees Celsius higher than they are today. Although precipitation will remain at the same level in the summer, the winter precipitation will increase by 6 to 25 percent. As a result, rivers and ditches will have to deal with extra water during the winter. Not all rivers will be able to cope with this increase. Moreover, the extra rain will not be easily absorbed by the soil, since the Dutch population is still growing.
More people will require more houses and more streets, which means more concrete and asphalt. On one hand, water which cannot disperse into the ground in the winter is likely to cause trouble, but on the other hand, water which cannot disperse into the ground in the summer will contribute to the drying of the soil. When the soil gets dehydrated, the water pollution will become relatively worse and salt water will advance. If the water levels in rivers fall, sea water at the rivers’ mouths can advance inland.

Space for water

During the past few years, people have started to realise that there is no sense in enlarging dikes again and again. If the sea level is to rise by one metre, raising the dikes is not a feasible solution. A structural change to the Dutch water management will be necessary to survive the next few centuries. The government has developed a new policy in which more space for water is the main priority. If we do not set aside extra space for water now, it will eventually just take the space it needs anyway. Therefore, it is better to allocate areas that could be set under water now, before it is too late. We can choose between densely or sparsely populated areas. Obviously, people currently living in these potential flooding areas do not agree with the government’s plans. It is counter-intuitive that soil, which was claimed over centuries is given back to the sea or a river. What counts, however, is the safety of all Dutch people. Polders will not be flooded without reason. Only by admitting that water will require more space, can we ensure that the Netherlands will stay safe and habitable for years to come.

Rupture with history

For many years, water was disposed of as quickly as possible. The quicker, the better. The ditches and pumping-stations were not made without purpose, were they? The extremely hot summer of 2003 showed, however, that this strategy does not always work. The west of the Netherlands was dried out in such a way, that water from the Amsterdam-Rhine channel had to be let in. If the groundwater level would become too low, the peaty soil between Leiden, Rotterdam and Breukelen would settle down (through compaction). Buildings in that area could have collapsed. Another problem was the required cooling-water for electricity generating stations. Cooling-water, when drained off, is not allowed to exceed more than thirty degrees Celsius. If it did, the water in lakes, rivers and ditches could get so warm that fish would die, populations of blue algae would increase enormously and botulism could arise. Ecosystems could be severely disrupted by too hot cooling-water.

Unfortunately, rain is not divided out proportionally throughuot the year: most rain falls in the winter. However, it would be very useful to have some extra water during dry times. A solution would be to store the winter rain and save it for the summer. A problem may be where to store this water. The best method has proven to store the water where it originates from. In the provinces of North-Brabant, Limburg and Flanders, farmers have placed small dams across ditches, so that rain water does not automatically drain away. The groundwater level therefore rises and less irrigation water has to be sprinkled. If water cannot be stored at the originating site, it can be pumped to an alternative allocated area. A polder for instance can serve as a buffer.

The Dutch live with water

The threats that face the Dutch are taken seriously enough as to launch a campaign to inform citizens of the future prospects. August 15th, 2003, a campaign was launched, with the slogan ‘Nederland leeft met Water’, which roughly translates to ‘the Dutch Live Together with Water’, or ‘the Dutch rely on Water’. Either way, the relationship between the Dutch and water is being stressed. Until mid-2008, a lot of attention will be paid to the question of how to deal with water in the Netherlands in the future, via advertisements, commercials on radio and television, billboards and the internet. Meteorologist and weatherman Peter Timofeeff plays an important role in this campaign, as he explains why some measurements will be unavoidable.