The Dutch freshwater system is under pressure. Due to climate change, water supplies in the summer are decreasing, while water consumption is increasing, even though adequate supplies of fresh water of good quality are essential for such things as drinking water supplies, agriculture, shipping, industry and nature. In dry periods in the future, there will not always be enough fresh water to serve all users. To be resilient to drought and water shortages by 2050, the National Water Programme includes a national strategy for the main water system: the Climate-Resilient Freshwater Supplies in the Main Water System (KZH) strategy.
More robust freshwater supplies
An important element in making freshwater supplies from the main water system more robust is the programmatic elaboration of the KZH strategy. The KZH optimises freshwater distribution when there are water shortages (whether actual or impending). The KZH also reduces the vulnerability of the main water system to water shortages due to salinisation in the lower river area and the depletion of the IJsselmeer buffer. All this is being done without large-scale infrastructural interventions in the main water system. In short, the KZH is being used to direct the available water flexibly through the weirs and locks in the main water system in order to meet demand for water for as long as possible. We are doing this by storing water for dry periods and taking targeted steps to combat salinisation.
Products of the KZH programme
The KZH programme will deliver the following:
- Advice about water distribution in the main water system, including freshwater retention and freshwater availability for use.
- Advice about a possible new influx route to the Markermeer and IJsselmeer lakes via the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal.
- Advice about the desirability, and possible policy details, of the concept of freshwater zones.
- Advice about increasing water availability in the Meuse by buffering water, water-saving measures at the locks, and strengthening international collaboration.
Distributing water as well as possible
Ultimately, in everything we do in Dutch water management, we want to share water as well as possible for everyone. But in times of extreme water shortages (impending or actual), we face more difficult decisions. At those times, a choice must be made between different areas, users, freshwater zones and freshwater buffers. This is where the statutory priority sequence comes into play.
Input for decision-making
The KZH programme does not stand alone. Like the freshwater regions in the Freshwater Delta Programme, the Room for the River 2.0 programme (RvdR 2.0, formerly Integrated River Management) and the IJsselmeer Region Delta Programme, it provides input for decision-making about the desired freshwater distribution in the Dutch main water system when river discharges are lower, and about freshwater availability. In this way, we put off actual water shortages in the Netherlands for as long as possible and provide action perspectives for crisis managers during water shortage situations.
More information
Would you like to know more? Please get in touch with Bas de Jong, KZH programme manager by email (bas.de.jong@rws.nl) or by phone (+31 (0)6 - 51 67 91 71).
Key points of the programme based on the RWS Publication Platform
- KZH basic information and main variants: basic information on current direction and main variants in the KZH - Rijkswaterstaat Publication Platform (Dutch)
- Freshwater Building Block for the IJsselmeer Area: exploratory analyses for the KZH - Rijkswaterstaat Publication Platform (Dutch)
- Possible variants Climate-Resilient Freshwater Supplies in the Main Water System - Rijkswaterstaat Publication Platform (Dutch)