Physical Geog: Dams, Dikes and Dunes

Dams, dikes and dunes – only three of the main flood defences that the Netherlands has to employ in order to prevent seawater submersion due to its low-lying nature. The Netherlands has been at risk of flooding for thousands of years, today, almost two thirds of the country is liable to severe flooding due to its densely populated nature and over half of the country lying below sea level (McVeigh, 2014; Ruimte voor de Rivier, 2016). Although many parts of the Netherlands are considered ‘at risk’ – the worry is nothing compared to what it would be if, for example, the UK were to be expecting a mass rain event. The reason for the relatively low-level of concern is that the high-flood risks and large quantities of water have been a part of Dutch life for so long that residents have learned to live with the water.

Dams and dikes in particular have been used in the Netherlands for centuries in order to prevent the inundation of seawater into the country. Dikes, long-wall like levees have been built all over the Netherlands, especially in coastal regions, and today almost form a natural part of Dutch landscape. In older times, the famous Dutch windmills were in full-time use, pumping water away from valuable lowland areas back into surrounding river networks (Dutchdikes.net, 2016).

Today, as well as implementing and maintaining the up-keep of well established water management mechanisms Dutch policy makers have been working to embed living with, rather than against the rivers and water. In 2006, the ‘Room for the River’ campaign and policy plan was launched, the idea behind the scheme essentially revolving around the naturalisation of some rivers and converting key areas of land back to flood plains (Ruimte voor de Rivier, 2016). Where necessary, several different river management techniques have been put into place, among other methods these include dike relocation to increase the width of floodplains, lowering floodplains in order to increase room for river water during high water levels and removing obstacles to increase flow rate of the river water.

The fact that the Dutch population have little to worry about when it comes to water and flooding is a credit to the flood management systems that have been put in place over many years. Although it is arguable that flooding does not pose such an imminent threat to countries like the UK, as influences of climate change become much more apparent – perhaps it would be wise to consider replicating some of the Dutch methods before disaster strikes and it becomes too late.

References:

Dutchdikes.net. (2016). Typology | Dutch Dikes. [online] Available at: http://dutchdikes.net/typology/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].

McVeigh, T. (2014). The Dutch solution to floods: live with water, don't fight it. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/16/flooding-netherlands [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].

Ruimte voor de Rivier. (2016). Room for the River. [online] Available at: https://www.ruimtevoorderivier.nl/english/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].