Sustainable Flood Control Management in the Netherlands: A New Approach

The Netherlands, the low-lying country on the shores of the North Sea, situated in the delta of the European rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt, has always had to counter the threat of flooding, both from the sea and the river basins. A large number of measures have been adopted throughout history as a result of threatened or actual floods. Now, too, a number of extensive improvement programmes are currently being implemented, which are scheduled for completion in 2015.Partly in response to the changing climate and the incidence of flooding elsewhere in the world in the last decade, a Delta Committee was set up to consider the question, “How can we ensure that future generations will continue to find our country an attractive place in which to live and work, to invest and take their leisure?”The findings and recommendations of this committee served as a basis for setting down component programmes intended to answer this question in the years to come.