The Dutch do it again

As flooding devastated much of Europe, residents of the Netherlands, a country famous for being below sea level managed to keep their collective feet dry. JOEP DERKSEN looks at the preparedness of the Dutch water-management system.

For weeks in June, the nation was occupied with only one question: will we suffer from the floods just like the Swiss, Austrian, Czech and Germans did? Doom and gloom was predicted, since three major rivers flow through the Netherlands: Rhine, Maas and Waal. And each one of them would bring with it the melt water from the mountains combined with the results from the heavy rains that have tormented the Western and central European countries.

But, alas for many a journalist, no crying babies, desperate mothers and water fighting fathers in this lower country. The only Dutch struggle against the rising water happened in Germany, where Dutch soldiers aided the local population.

In the Netherlands the water reached its highest point on Friday 7 June: near Lobith it rose to 13.62 meter above sea level (NAP: Nieuw Amsterdams Peil). Not one single house suffered water damage, but this was also due to the ingenious system of the “uiterwaarden” (water-meadows). In case of high water, these regions without houses are used to let the surplus of water flow to. It was a sharp contrast to the water misery people suffered in countries such as Hungary and Germany.

A dyke broke near Fischbeck in Saksen-Anhalt and people had to be evacuated. Also in other cities such as Wust, Kamern and Klietz, thousands of citizens were forced to leave their homes. The total damage to the German economy was estimated to be 12 billion euro.

So, were the Dutch lucky or well prepared? Facts show that it may be the latter. To increase the disposal capacity of the Rhine, Rijkswaterstaat opened the dams in the rivers Neder-Rijn and the Lek. Because of this action, these rivers aid the Rhine in guiding the excess water to the North Sea. As soon as the water level had gone down, the dams were closed again

Some environmentalists used the water floods to raise awareness of global climate change. Nevermind that for eons the climate has consistently changed, but the question does arise; in what way was the particularly bad Spring, with more than abundant rainfalls, responsible for the floodings in the major part of Europe? Who could imagine that on 1 June, it would still be snowing in Italy; because of which, a stage in the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy) had to be cut short.

It is not for nothing that the discussions on the environment have changed. For years, doomsayers and scientists have warned the world’s population about global warming, nowadays termed climate change. The earth would warm up by five, ten or twenty degrees and this would cause a mass extinction of animal life. The whole western part of the Netherlands would disappear in the sea and the inhabitants of Amersfoort would live near the beach. Every year, with the first rays of sunlight, the newspapers would show polar bears on ice floes, warning about the dire times to come.

Forget about that! Here’s a salute to past and present generations of Dutch inhabitants, who fought the seas, built dykes and dams and conquered land from the North Sea! The largest flooding in Dutch recent history happened in 1953, when more than 1,500 people perished in high tides. In an era when there was no talk of global warming or climate change. You never know what is coming, but one thing is for sure: shit happens.

Should we fear it? No. Will we have to be prepared? Absolutely. Therefore, the Germans, Swiss, Hungarians and Austrians can jealously look at the Netherlands, whose reputation as a water-fighting country is still standing strong!

(Published in The Holland Times, July edition).