Water Man­age­ment

In a coun­try which lies largely below sea level, water man­age­ment is a cru­cial aspect of life. The Dutch have been experts at keep­ing their feet dry ever since they settled in the marshy lands sur­round­ing the Rhine delta. 

To pro­tect against flood­ing, the Neth­er­lands have developed an advanced sys­tem of dikes, dams, and floodgates. Today, the coun­try is at the fore­front of mod­ern and con­tem­por­ary water man­age­ment prac­tices, which are essen­tial to pro­tect against the grow­ing threat of cli­mate change and sea level rise. The last major nat­ur­al dis­aster was the North Sea flood of 1953, which killed over 1,800 people and caused wide­spread dam­age. After­wards the Delta Works were built: a sys­tem of dikes and dams that pro­tects the delta of the river Rhine. Today, a big­ger chal­lenge than hori­zont­al water is ver­tic­al water: salty ground­wa­ter push­ing through the polders, but mainly the increase in pre­cip­it­a­tion due to the cli­mate change. There­fore an import­ant aspect of Dutch water man­age­ment are nature-based solu­tions. These are sus­tain­able and cost-effect­ive meas­ures that har­ness the power of nature to mit­ig­ate the effects of cli­mate change and pro­tect against flood­ing. The Dutch approach the water-related chal­lenges in an equally innov­at­ive and prag­mat­ic man­ner, with pro­jects includ­ing res­tor­a­tion of wet­lands, the cre­ation of green roofs and walls, water reten­tion squares, under­ground rain­wa­ter stor­age and float­ing neigh­bour­hoods. The mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures also include the use of green infra­struc­ture, such as nat­ur­al flood­plains and wet­lands, which can absorb excess water and reduce the impact of flood­ing. Find out more dur­ing one of our tours on water management!