Opinion | The limits of the Dutch water system have been reached

How can we ensure that the water system is restored to balance? By focusing on more space for rivers; by reducing the fragmentation of land use in the Netherlands, making it easier to adjust water levels; by anchoring the ‘Water and Soil Steering’ policy not only policy-wise, but also legally; and by immediately starting to focus on future-proof construction with a mandatory Climate Test. This way you build a decisive policy that can quickly respond to the latest developments.

1. Room for rivers

The water level in our rivers is rising due to sea level rise, which makes it more difficult for rivers to discharge their water, and due to the build-up of river water from Belgium and Germany. Combined with more extreme rainfall, the rivers need more space to better store the water. Raising or strengthening dikes seems to be the solution, but this is not the case everywhere. In addition to costing a lot of money, space and landscape quality, when dikes are raised, the polders behind them become increasingly deeper, making it even more difficult to process precipitation.

For the western half of our country, widening rivers is no longer effective when the sea level rises, because the sea will then penetrate further. Moreover, the extreme water level of the Meuse in 2021 shows that it is far too risky if you design the landscape based on current weather statistics. We then do not take into account new extremes that will become much worse due to climate change than in the past few years.

You can give the rivers more space by designing floodplains as nature reserves and no longer allowing permanent habitation. The floodplains are then suitable to absorb both extreme precipitation and high water in the rivers, to retain fresh (drinking) water and to give nature more space.

2. Less land fragmentation

Dry summers and increased consumption of fresh water cause problems in our water supply. The groundwater level is dropping below a critical level, farmers are no longer allowed to irrigate, nature reserves are drying out, and the risk of forest fires is increasing. To prevent drought, the water level must rise, mainly in nature reserves and the east of our country. This is at odds with agricultural areas and housing, for which the water level is kept artificially low. By fragmenting land use less in the Netherlands and combining fewer functions within a water system, there is less conflicting land use and opposing interests are less often and less closely aligned. This makes it easier to adjust water levels to specific wishes. This requires painful choices, but not making choices will cause major problems.

3. Legal guarantee

In 2022, the cabinet chose the ‘Water and Soil Steering’ policy line as the starting point for the organization of the Netherlands. At the moment, we still see proposals in policy processes and political decisions that thwart this. Consider building houses in the floodplains near Arnhem, which is at odds with the policy line, but is legally permitted. To prevent this in the future, ‘Water and Soil Management’ must be permanently legally anchored, so that it does not remain just good intentions. With a Scientific Advisory Council, regulations can be designed and adapted that take into account new extremes and the latest scientific developments.

4. Future-proof construction

One aspect of ‘Water and Soil Steering’ is future-proof construction. This does not just mean building houses on stilts or another local technical solution, but also preventing construction in certain places. The water level is often lowered for agriculture and homes.

The result of this is that the ground sinks, which means that the water level has to be lowered even further, which causes the ground to sink again, endangering foundations, causing salty seepage to surface, and so on. This is an irreversible process. Water boards are increasingly having difficulty with their tasks and insurers warn of unaffordable damage. It is therefore wise to aim for a mandatory climate test to ensure future-proof construction so that everyone can keep dry feet.

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Trend break in Dutch water and soil management

The Houtribdijk (also called Markerwaarddijk or Enkhuizen-Lelystad dike) is a water barrier. The dike separates the IJsselmeer from the Markermeer. After the Afsluitdijk, it is the longest dam in the Netherlands.” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/xLkK63-20sIYKou0CRYqro-tB2k=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data93848271-5c996b.jpg”/>

It is a fact that sea levels are rising, extreme precipitation and river discharges are increasing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for rivers to drain into the North Sea. It is therefore important to legally anchor policies such as ‘Water and Soil Management’ in a sustainable manner in the short term. This means we take nasty surprises into account. The time to adapt is getting shorter and shorter.

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