Water quality and the Delta Programme
Following the General Meeting on water safety with the Standing Parliamentary Committee for Infrastructure & the Environment on Thursday 13 June, Delta Commissioner Wim Kuijken advised the Minister regarding water quality in relation to the Delta Programme and the Delta Fund.
The immediate reason for this was the relatively long, ongoing discussion regarding whether or not expenditure on improving water quality and investments in water safety and the fresh-water supply should be funded from the Delta Fund.
Experience gained over several years has shown there is a large degree of inter-connectedness and that there is synergy to be achieved especially between fresh-water and water-quality measures. The Delta Commissioner is not surprised that ‘water quality’ is now to be brought under the Delta Fund and the Delta Programme. This will be more effective, also for the water authorities. To this end, the law needs to be slightly amended. It will also be necessary to retain the one-to-one relationship between the Delta Fund and the Delta programme that the House of Representatives included in the Delta Act.
If from now on water quality is to be funded from the Delta Fund, this should not be to the detriment of the continued implementation of water-safety and fresh-water measures, according to the Delta Commissioner. In this respect, it is important that resources for water quality are added to the Delta Fund and that the remaining potential to invest in water safety and freshwater is kept intact.