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Dutch dykes in need of massive overhaul

by RNW news*

03-09-2008

A committee charged with investigating the future effect of rising sea levels on the Netherlands delivered its findings today. The 'Delta Committee' headed by former minister Cees Veerman says large-scale work is needed to extend and strengthen dykes in the Netherlands.

This committee had a broader remit than the previous Delta commission, established after the disastrous floods of 1953. That calamity claimed the lives of at least 1800 people in the coastal province of Zeeland in the south-east of the Netherlands.

That commission's aim was to consider possible engineering measures to protect the areas that had been flooded. The result was the Delta Works, the vast complex of dams, sluices and storm surge barriers that now protect the land around the delta of the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt. The committee headed by Mr Veerman was asked to consider a new, wider threat: increasing volumes of river water in combination with rising sea levels.

Ten times greater
The Delta committee concludes that the level of protection against flooding needs to be ten times greater than it is at present. It recommends that the process of pumping extra sand to reinforce the North Sea coast needs to continue. Where necessary, shipping channels will have to be relocated.

A quarter of all the current sea defences fail to meet legal safety standards, and the committee also concludes that the present standards are, in fact, by no means strict enough. It points out that 65 percent of the country's assets - valued at some 1800 billion euros, according to a conservative estimate - are in areas that are liable to flooding.

Billions
The proposed plan of action will cost between 1.2 and 1.6 billion euros each year until 2050 to implement. The money will come from a special Delta fund to be financed by loans and the country's natural gas revenues so as to ensure that the project is not affected by political or economic developments.

So far the recommendations have met with a positive response from politicians and conservation organisations. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende responded to the committee's recommendations by announcing that the government will introduce legislation - the Delta Act - in the coming parliamentary year, which will provide details of how the project is to be financed.

Two of the three governing parties - the Christian Democrats and Labour -  have stressed that the report needs to remain high on the political agenda. The main opposition party, the conservative VVD, is also positive about the recommendations, but has expressed concern about the cost. Conservation and environmental organisations have also broadly welcomed the findings.

* RNW translation (ms/tpf)

Tags: 1953, Delta Committee, Delta Works, Dutch government, Dutch sea defences, dykes, Floods, Zeeland

Reaction(s):

jasmin, 04-09-2008 - India

These politicians! This dyke enforcement is much more important for the Dutch people, than other programmes and security of some of your controversial politicians here and abroad. Though no such steps are taken by Indian state govts to safeguard the people in the flood-prone areas and so many lives are lost every year.

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