High water in the Netherlands
High water is causing great problems, casualties and losses in Central Europe. The consequences of this high water can also be seen in the Netherlands: there is flooding along our major rivers.
What is the cause?
Most of the rainfall in the catchment area of the Rhine falls in winter. High water in the Rhine and inundated flood plains are therefore usually seen in winter. Currently, it has rained heavily for several days in succession in southern Germany and other Alpine countries. This is due to the rare situation in which a large, low-pressure system stayed in the same place for several days.
Major consequences
Heavy rain in the Alpine countries leads to streams and rivers flooding, dikes being breached and dangerous situations being created with much human suffering, significant losses and difficulties.
Exceptional
The rainfall in the Alpine countries reached the Netherlands via the Rhine in the form of a flood wave that lasts 7 to 10 days. The maximum discharge is then approximately 6500 m3/s (in comparison: on average that is 2200 m3/sec, maximum in the winter of 1995: approximately 12,000 m3/s). This is not even close to being extreme or dangerous since our dikes can cope with a discharge of 15,000 m3/s. It is, however, enough to inundate the flood plains. Strictly speaking, this can happen at any time, but it is not a usual occurrence in spring and summer. For that reason, in those seasons the flood plains are used more intensively for recreational purposes (campsites and caravans) and for agriculture. This means that high water now results in greater losses and problems than in winter. On average, such high water in summer occurs once in 30 years. The last time was in 1983.
Protection
Under the leadership of the Delta Commissioner, the Delta Programme is working on the task of having the Netherlands well protected from high water and ensuring an adequate supply of fresh water during times of low water, right up to 2100. This involves implementing measures to ensure that we can adapt better to water, and are better able to withstand the extreme conditions which will occur more frequently in the future. A proposal for the first set of measures will be included in the Delta Programme 2015 and presented to the House of Representatives.