They had already been adopted, but now they have also been set down in the six-year National Water Plan: the Delta Decisions on Flood Risk Management, Freshwater Supply, and Spatial Adaptation, as proposed by the Delta Programme Commissioner in the Delta Programme 2015. In the new National Water Plan, Minister Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and the Environment) and State Secretary Van Dam (Economic Affairs) have set down how, for the next 6 years, the Netherlands will protect itself from water, how our water will be made cleaner and how the Netherlands will be designed in a climate-resilient and water-robust manner.
Climate change has a serious impact on our vulnerable delta: bigger storm surges at sea, more water flowing through rivers, more frequent heavy rainfall, heat waves, and droughts. We need stronger dykes and wider rivers, and more options for capturing rainwater in the places where it falls. All this costs a lot of money and requires a lot of space. The Netherlands will become safer if, in our spatial planning, we take more account of water. In addition, agreements need to be made on water at the European level because rivers and seas do not respect national borders.
Without stronger dykes, 60% of the Netherlands will regularly become flooded. Nine million people live in that area and 70% of our GDP is generated there. Sixteen percent of our economy is dependent on an adequate supply of fresh water. These water-dependent sectors generate a turnover of more than 193 billion euros a year.
The National Water Plan lays down the new water policy for the coming six years, and also looks ahead to 2050.