Water management in The Netherlands samenvatting
Hoorcollege 1: introduction
Hoorcollege 2: history of The Netherlands and long-term processes
Hoorcollege 3: climate and hydrological processes
Hoorcollege 4: coastal dynamics
Hoorcollege 5: river dynamics
Hoorcollege 6: polders
Hoorcollege 7: water safety
Hoorcollege 8: water quality
Hoorcollege 9: salinity
Hoorcollege 10: drinking water
Hoorcollege 11: drought
Hoorcollege 12: delta programme
Exam preparation
, Hoorcollege 1: introduction
The four river basins in the Netherlands are:
- Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, Ems
- Groundwater inflow is limited
The Netherlands:
- 1000 kilometers of coastline
- Rising sea-levels
- Subsidence due to human influence
Dutch water management:
- Water law (formerly 8 laws)
- Delta programme (safety, fresh water, spatial planning)
- Water and subsurface letter
Influence from the European Union:
- Floods directive (water safety)
- Water framework directive (water quality)
Water balance in The Netherlands, bepaald door:
- Precipitation
- Inflow rivers (Rhine, Meuse)
- Societal withdrawal (uittrekking) and discharge
- Outflow to sea
- Evapotranspiration
Sewerage: rioolwater
Seepage: kwel (water dat onder de dijk door komt vanuit de bodem)
River banks: rivieroevers (de grens van water en land, van een rivier)
, Hoorcollege 2: history of The Netherlands and long-term processes
What makes Dutch water management so complex?
- Drought (more frequent, more intense)
- Extreme rainfall
- Extreme river discharge
- 26% below sea level, 55% in direct reach of sea if we had no dikes
- Sea level rise
- Soil subsidence (tectonic and peat oxidation)
- Population growth in west part of the NL
North sea basin → continuous sedimentation (door collision Africa-Europe plate and opening
Atlantic)
Tectonic tilting in The Nederland, 3 causes:
1. Collision Africa-Europa not finished yet
2. North Atlantic Ocean still opens itselfs
3. Glacio-isostatic recovery from ice cap on Scandinavia during last ice age not stable yet
Ice pushed ridges important for drinking water
General development of the Western and Southern Netherlands controlled by:
- Sea level rise curve (slowing down)
- Changing ratio between sedimentation and erosion
- The tilted Pleistocene substrate
- Sediment distribution
A changing landscape:
9000 BC – 5500 BC: increasing sea-level rise led to rising inundation (overstromingen) and rising
groundwater tables (brackisch).
- This in turn led to more vegetation
- Tidel basins in lower parts of the Netherlands
- Peat is formed under continuous wet conditions
- Transgressive coastline
5500 BC – 500 BC:
- Slower sea-level rise
- Sediment increase Rhine and Meuse
, - Silting up of tidal basins
- Increased peat formation due to rising groundwater, increased sedimentation, silting, less
tidal action
- Peat reduces drainage, in turn increasing peat formation
- Formation of coastal barriers
- First significant human influence: deforestation in Germany
The terrace crossing between Kreftenheye and Echteld formations. Location controlled by relative sea
movement.
Due to construction of dikes, we have the situation that flooding disaster increases, independent of
climate change:
- Land subsides tectonically and due to peat oxidation, but there is no natural compensation
due to sedimentation anymore
- Sediment accumulates between dikes: continuous reduction of water storage capacity
between dikes
- Raising dikes leaks to higher difference between both sides, and thus to bigger disaster
impact when it goes wrong
Hoorcollege 1: introduction
Hoorcollege 2: history of The Netherlands and long-term processes
Hoorcollege 3: climate and hydrological processes
Hoorcollege 4: coastal dynamics
Hoorcollege 5: river dynamics
Hoorcollege 6: polders
Hoorcollege 7: water safety
Hoorcollege 8: water quality
Hoorcollege 9: salinity
Hoorcollege 10: drinking water
Hoorcollege 11: drought
Hoorcollege 12: delta programme
Exam preparation
, Hoorcollege 1: introduction
The four river basins in the Netherlands are:
- Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, Ems
- Groundwater inflow is limited
The Netherlands:
- 1000 kilometers of coastline
- Rising sea-levels
- Subsidence due to human influence
Dutch water management:
- Water law (formerly 8 laws)
- Delta programme (safety, fresh water, spatial planning)
- Water and subsurface letter
Influence from the European Union:
- Floods directive (water safety)
- Water framework directive (water quality)
Water balance in The Netherlands, bepaald door:
- Precipitation
- Inflow rivers (Rhine, Meuse)
- Societal withdrawal (uittrekking) and discharge
- Outflow to sea
- Evapotranspiration
Sewerage: rioolwater
Seepage: kwel (water dat onder de dijk door komt vanuit de bodem)
River banks: rivieroevers (de grens van water en land, van een rivier)
, Hoorcollege 2: history of The Netherlands and long-term processes
What makes Dutch water management so complex?
- Drought (more frequent, more intense)
- Extreme rainfall
- Extreme river discharge
- 26% below sea level, 55% in direct reach of sea if we had no dikes
- Sea level rise
- Soil subsidence (tectonic and peat oxidation)
- Population growth in west part of the NL
North sea basin → continuous sedimentation (door collision Africa-Europe plate and opening
Atlantic)
Tectonic tilting in The Nederland, 3 causes:
1. Collision Africa-Europa not finished yet
2. North Atlantic Ocean still opens itselfs
3. Glacio-isostatic recovery from ice cap on Scandinavia during last ice age not stable yet
Ice pushed ridges important for drinking water
General development of the Western and Southern Netherlands controlled by:
- Sea level rise curve (slowing down)
- Changing ratio between sedimentation and erosion
- The tilted Pleistocene substrate
- Sediment distribution
A changing landscape:
9000 BC – 5500 BC: increasing sea-level rise led to rising inundation (overstromingen) and rising
groundwater tables (brackisch).
- This in turn led to more vegetation
- Tidel basins in lower parts of the Netherlands
- Peat is formed under continuous wet conditions
- Transgressive coastline
5500 BC – 500 BC:
- Slower sea-level rise
- Sediment increase Rhine and Meuse
, - Silting up of tidal basins
- Increased peat formation due to rising groundwater, increased sedimentation, silting, less
tidal action
- Peat reduces drainage, in turn increasing peat formation
- Formation of coastal barriers
- First significant human influence: deforestation in Germany
The terrace crossing between Kreftenheye and Echteld formations. Location controlled by relative sea
movement.
Due to construction of dikes, we have the situation that flooding disaster increases, independent of
climate change:
- Land subsides tectonically and due to peat oxidation, but there is no natural compensation
due to sedimentation anymore
- Sediment accumulates between dikes: continuous reduction of water storage capacity
between dikes
- Raising dikes leaks to higher difference between both sides, and thus to bigger disaster
impact when it goes wrong
