The cooperation within the Delta Programme between the water boards, municipalities, provinces and the government has been assessed as “very good, for the most part in line with the high expectations and ambitions of the legislator”. This was the assessment of the functioning of the Delta Act as evaluated by an independent committee headed by Peter Veld (ABDTOPconsult).The committee noted that there is currently no need to amend the Delta Act.
Delta Programme Commissioner Wim Kuijken was pleased with the findings of the evaluation: ‘Over the past six years, we have worked hard within the Delta Programme. It’s encouraging that such a thorough evaluation has confirmed we have made good progress in the areas of flood risk management, freshwater supply, and spatial adaptation. It is clear that national control through the Delta Programme Commissioner, the Delta Fund and the Delta Programme are important preconditions, but it is above all the cooperating partners – the Dutch Water authorities, the Association of Provincial Authorities (IPO), the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) and the government – that have made the cooperation work. The success of the Delta Programme is these partners’ success and, credit should definitely also go to the participating knowledge institutes, civic society organisations and the business community. So, a round of applause for the entire “delta community”! The committee also made number of valuable recommendations. In the next phase of the Delta Programme we will actively get to work on them.’
Approach and working method
The evaluation committee’s assessment of the Delta Programme’s approach and working method was positive. The national and inter-administrative approach turned out to be crucial in terms of support for and trust in the Delta Programme. Joint fact finding too, was a deciding factor in the approach. All in all, in the opinion of the evaluation committee, the Delta Programme has performed well: policy development regarding water issues in the programme has clearly acquired impetus and direction, the new flood risk management standards were implemented quickly and with public support, and policy development for the themes of freshwater supply and spatial adaptation has been boosted considerably through the Delta Programme.
Recommendations
The committee also presented a number of recommendations. Taking the step from planning to implementation is a major challenge. In addition, striking a good balance between staying on course and being flexible is, in the committee’s view, vital to the implementation of adaptive delta management in practice. This is being fleshed out in the Meten-Weten-Handelen (measuring-knowing-acting) system. Another major challenge is the strengthening of the integration of the tasks of the Delta Programme with other spatial planning tasks. The Delta Programme Commissioner: ‘We have come a long way, but I agree with the committee that we still have a lot to do. Taking the step to implementation and execution regarding slood risk management, making the plans for freshwater supply and spatial adaptation more concrete and picking up the pace, adding content to “adaptive delta management” and linking the tasking of the Delta Programme to other spatial planning tasks requires us to continue the cooperation we have built, nationally and regionally.’
Cabinet response
Today, in its initial response, the cabinet stated it was pleased with the functioning of the Delta Act, the Delta Programme, the Delta Fund and the Delta Programme Commissioner over the past years. Given the tasks that lie ahead, the cabinet considers it to be vitally important to maintain public support for and the momentum of the Delta Programme; the cabinet and the partners therefore support the continuation of the horizontal cooperation that is a feature of the Delta Programme and, based on the committee’s findings, sees no reason to amend the Delta Act.