Photos Fourth Dutch Delta Congress 2013
Photographs were taken of the various speeches and activities at the Fourth Dutch Delta Conference. You can see some of them below. Photos: Ruben Jorksveld and Jos Braal.
Opening
Minister Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure & the Environment) in conversation with host Eva Kuit. The Minister opened the Fourth National Delta Conference and referred to 2014 as an exciting year for the Delta Decisions.
Franz Edelman Award
Anne Robinson (President of INFORMS) presented the Franz Edelman Award to the Delta Commissioner and the team from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the University of Tilburg, Delft University of Technology, Deltares, HKV Consultants and the Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment. The Dutch consortium recently won this prestigious American prize for its project entitled “Economically Efficient Flood Standards to Protect the Netherlands Against Flooding”.
In the project, a new calculation method was developed which can be used for calculating the optimal level of economic protection of the Netherlands against flooding. The project has made a unique contribution to improving the water safety of the Netherlands and plays a major role in the Delta Programme 2014.
State of affairs
Delta Commissioner Wim Kuijken explained the state of affairs regarding the Delta Programme, paying special attention to innovations in the programme on the road to the Delta Decisions in 2014-2015, and using concrete examples of “intelligent combinations”.
Knowledge institutions 05 Professoren
Three professors entered into a debate on the approach to, quality assurance of and dealing with uncertainties in the preparation of the Delta Decisions: Bas Jonkman (Delft University of Technology), Pier Vellinga (Wageningen University) and Chris Zevenbergen (UNESCO-IHE).
Young people and the Delta Programme
Young people play an important role in the Delta Programme. Representatives from the Youth Water Board spoke about the use of social media with which they hope to strengthen the involvement of young people. They also launched the online version of the Delta Viewer. In pictures and text, the Delta Viewer shows how the Netherlands deals with water: as a friend and as an enemy, today, in the past and in the future, at the local, regional and national levels.
In the spotlight
This year, the Delta Commissioner turned the spotlight on special guest Koos van Oord for his important work for the Delta Programme. Mr Van Oord called on all stakeholders to make their best efforts and emphasised that this means not only “bring in the Dutch”, but also focusing in our own country on “binding the Dutch” and “building by the Dutch”.
Administrative partners
The administrative partners in the Delta Programme reflected on the progress of the Delta Programme and the preparation of the Delta Decisions using concrete examples: Gerard Doornbos Vice-Chair, Association of Regional Water Authorities), Josan Meijers (Member of the Board of the Association of the Provinces of the Netherlands), Ina Adema (Chair of the Water Sub-committee, Association of Netherlands Municipalities), and Jan Hendrik Dronkers (Director-General of Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment.
Close of the morning programme
Peter Heij, Director-General of Spatial Planning & Water Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment, closed the morning programme with a plea for greater social engagement.
Delta Parade
Visitors at the Delta parade. Aleid Wolfsen, Mayor of Utrecht and Chair of the Safety Council, opened the Delta Parade in which the sub-programmes of the Delta Programme gave presentations on the progress of their projects.
Emmy Meijers, Director of the Rhine Estuary-Drechtsteden sub-programme gave an explanation to Delta Commissioner Wim Kuijken and Aleid Wolfsen. The Rhine Estuary-Drechtsteden region is densely populated and is of enormous economic significance to the Netherlands, particularly due to the port activities there. In the region – around Rotterdam and Dordrecht – water comes from two sides: from the sea and from the rivers. Due to climate change and subsidence, the risk of flooding in the region is rising and the river water is becoming salinised.
Afternoon programme
Wiebe Draijer, Chair of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands and independent member appointed by the Crown, opened the afternoon programme. He referred to the Delta Programme as a source of inspiration for the Energy Agreement. Just like in the Delta Programme, lobby organisations and civic groups were involved from the outset in the establishment of the Energy Agreement.
Subsequently, six civil society organisations were given the opportunity to pitch (in three minutes per organisation) what they regard as a model solution in the areas of water safety, freshwater and regional systems.
Water safety
Petra Souwerbren (Director of ARK) and Fries Heinis, Director of the Association of Hydraulic Engineers (Vereniging van Waterbouwers).
Regional systems
Peter Visser, Chair of the Regional Consultative Body for the IJsselmeer Region and Jan Boelhouwer, Chair of the Rivers Feedback Group.
Innovations
Innovations can result in significant cost savings. In 3-minute pitches, nine people explained their innovation and its importance for elements of the Delta Programme.
Freshwater
Siem Jan Schenk, Vice-chair of the Dutch Agriculture and Horticulture Federation (LTO Nederland), and Roy Tummers, Director of Water at the Association for Energy, Environment & Water (VEMW).
Digital innovations in integrated water management
Geert Hermans, business developer at ZLTO, developed the “Precision Agriculture and Geo-information” programme. Onne Rösingh, Member of the Board of IJkdijk, showed how peat dikes can be monitored better so that faster action can be taken if there is danger of instability. Fons Nelen spoke about the 3di Water Management project that focuses on making super-fast and accurate water calculations and a realistic visualisation of the results. This delivers maps that accurately depict where and how fast an area will flood in the event of a disaster.
Freshwater conservation
Koen Zuurbier, hydrologist at KWR Watercycle Research Institute, showed news ways to store water underground as a water reserve and to combat salinisation.
Pieter Beeldman, project leader of the bubble plumes feasibility study, showed how bubble plumes can be used to combat further saline penetration from the Nieuwe Waterweg.
Peter Vermaat of Evides Waterbedrijf showed a new method using freshwater efficiently by combining rainwater and treated wastewater, specially developed for growers in the Westland region.
National High Water Protection Programme (nHWBS)
Frans van den Berg presented a technique in which geotextile rolls can be placed vertically in the toe of a dike to combat piping (the phenomenon in which seepage water erodes the sand so that the dike becomes unstable).
Chris Griffioen of the Groot-Salland Water Authority, showed how a higher water level in polders can combat piping.
Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, CEO of AGT Nederland, presented a water app that residents of risk areas can use in the event of flooding to keep constantly informed – and inform each other – of the course of a disaster and where the situation is still safe.
Close
Hans van der Vlist, Chair of the Water Advisory Committee, closed the conference. He said that he firmly supports the Delta Commissioner’s recommendation that 1% of the Delta Fund should be reserved for investing in knowledge and innovations.
