Transcript of 爀䈀甀琀 愀氀猀漀 琀漀 挀栀愀渀最攀搀 挀椀爀挀甀 …...As from 100: building...
Bart de Jong
Counselor for Infrastructure and the Environment
Royal Netherlands EmbassyWashington D.C.
Flood DefenseIn The Netherlands: A Story of Adaptation
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Honered to speak! A story of adaptation: not only to rising water levels, But also to changed circumstances and new ways of thinking
A Story of Adaptation: Outline
• Traditional flood defense as from AD 1000: hard levees
• Shift in paradigm
• Building with nature
• Multi layered safety approach
• Lessons Learned
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Story of how NL flood protection and water mgt policy has evolved, how we have had to adapt our policy, notably over the last few decades. Tradiitonal flood defense: hard sea walls
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1953
1809
1995
1807
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“Remembering the Past, Preparing for the Future”, that is subtitle you gave this 2016 DC Flood Summit That is exactly what the present day Dutch coastal management and flood protection is based on. Over the centuries, country ravaged by major floods, and each time we had to rebuild and also rethink our response. Each century had its major floodings, smae as in DC: Storm surge, Tidal, Riverine Two I will come back to: 1953 and 1995
The Dutch Delta in NW Europe
• The Netherlands is the delta of Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt and Eems;
• 26% below sea level;
• 60% of population, 70% of GDP earned in area below sea level;
• 59% flood prone
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To understand the magnitude of the problem in the NL, and what flood control means to us this map: NL a third bigger than the size of Maryland, 17 million people. Water defenses at coastline: x km of natural dunes, 300 km of dams and levees.
Traditional flood protection since A.D. 1000: dams, levees, pumping!
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As from 100: building dams and levees, pumping water out, originally with windmills -> resulted in the typically Dutch landscapes with polders and windwills..
Major Floods in 1916, 1926, 1953: More and higher dams and levees
Delta Project
Enclosure Dam (1932)
Maeslantkering (1997)Scheldt Estuary Dams (1986)
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20th century brought major floods in 1916, 1926 and 1953: Pavlov reaction : build even more and higher dams! Afsluitdijk (enclosure dam and Deltaworks (foto’s!)
The Delta Under Pressure: Challenges
Sealevel rise35-85 cm/100y
More /extremestorms?
More/intenserainfall
Spatialdevelopments
Increased erosion
Subsidence20 cm/100yr
Salt intrusion
Decreasedriver
discharge- 60%
Increased river
discharge+ 10%
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With system of dams, levees, pumping, first windwmills, later steam engines, electric pumping stations we nicely more or less managed to keep our feet dry for nearly 10 centuries! At the same time: realise traditional way of defense is not sustainable on the long term : Cross section of Western NL: NorthSea, naural dunes, land below sea level, alluvial plains: Most often peat, some clay soils, first sandy layers at 12 – 16 meters deep. No bedrock for first 500. meters. But problems galore in the idyllic delta ! Sea level rise because of climate change/melting ice sheets, exacerbated by the isostatic equilibrium -> If Greenland and Scandinavia are rising because of melting ice caps, NL is sinking ! Severe weather, more extreme rainfall -> increased erosion At same time: more extremes in river discharges (notably wetter springs and longer dry spells) Extreme pressure on space: population growth between 1960 and 2016: from 11 million to 17 million / 3rd most densley populated country in the world..
A Story of Adaptation
• Traditional defense as from AD 1000: hard levees
• Shift in paradigm: from flood protection to flood management
• Building with nature
• Multi layered safety approach
• Lessons Learned
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Shift in ParadigmFrom flood protection to flood management
Dealing With Increasing Flood Threats:
– Living with Water -> adapt spatial planning:
• Room for River• Create space for excess water in urban areas
These additional challenges, and also the notion that you cannot just keep on raising your dams and levees, mad us rethink our flood control policy. The thinking for centuries had been geared towards keeping the water out. As from the 90ies: realize we had to start Living with water create space to accommodate excess water: We had to start anticipating future changes
Vulnerability assessment: 2001-2006
300+ possible riverine flood risk projects identified
Two equal goals: Flood risk reduction and improve spatial quality
2006-2009: stakeholder engagement
2011 -2016: 35 projects completed ($3 billion)
Living with Water: Room for the River
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Most striking example: Room for the River program 1993: unleash rivers them from the narrow beds that they had been harnassed in over hundreds of years; Return river beds to their natural function. Banish residential strucutres in river flood plains-
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Nijmegen: pop. 200,000k Waal River busiest inland shipping route in Europe
Challenge:Reduce flood riskAccommodate high river dischargesSafeguard connection to urban center
Room for the River: Waal River at Nijmegen
• Excavate river arm • Widen river bed
Room for the River: Waal River at Nijmegen
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Solution chosen: - 2,5 km long extra river arm, widening river bed € 365 ($ 475) 50 households displaced 3 new bridges 7 public authorities Waterfront housing Waterfront retail
Room for the River: IJssel River at Deventer
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Living with Water: Urban Flood Plain Rotterdam
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Totally fifferent example of living with water is living with water in cities. Urban planners in NL have been finding ways to accommodae extra flood water in urban areas. Most notable exmaple: Rotterdam (plagued by tidal, but also riverine and rain water floods) Rotterdam Climate Initiative : city climate proof by 2025 This terras for example in the centre of the city has been designed in such a way that it can store extra storm water during heavy rainfall, a so called artificial urban floodplain
Living with Water: Urban Retention Basin Rotterdam
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Living with Water:Combined Parking Garage andRetention Basin Rotterdam
Living with Water: Adapted Urban Planning
Innovative Solutions Coastal Protection:Dam in Dune at Katwijk (2015)
- Enhanced coastal protection- Improvement of spatial quality- Dam in dune + parking 666 cars- PPP-basis
Innovative Solution Coastal Protection:Scheveningen Boulevard The Hague
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Challenge: Increase protection to 1/10000, don’t disrupt commerce,�Improve spatial quality and economy, $400 mln euro (4 mile long stretch of crucial beachfront)�
A Story of Adaptation
• Traditional Defense as from 1000: Hard sea walls
• Shift in paradigm: from flood protection to flood management
• Building with nature
• Multi layered safety approach
• Lessons Learned
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Sand Motor
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A Story of Adaptation
• Traditional Defense as from 1000: Hard sea walls
• Accommodating increasing flood threats: Living with Water
• Building with nature
• Multi layered safety approach
• Lessons learned
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Deltacommissaris
Water Safety Policy 2009: Multi Layered Approach
1. PreventionLimit the risk of a flood disaster(dams, levees, dunes and barriers)
2. Sustainable spatial planningLimiting the effects of flooding(room for the river, urban flood plains)
3. Crisis managementReducing the consequences of a flood(awareness, preparation, evacuation)
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Shift in paradigm means we now have a multi layered approach to flood managment: First layer: still rely on dam, levees, Second layer: limiting the effecs of flooding by creating space for excess water, room for the river. Crisis manamgement: evacuate horizontal – vertical
Deltacommissaris
Crisis Management
Raise awareness:
• Acceptance that not every disaster can be prevented
• “Overstroom ik?” app(Will I flood?)
• Prepare public for evacuation
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Few words on crisis management: Succes is dependent on awareness op people. Flood safety too long taken for granted, floods of 1995, let alone 1953 already long ago. Rijkswaterstaat embarked on awareness app: Overstroom ik?
Lessons Learned
• Flood risk is not a singular, static issue: Holistic approach!
• There is and end to raising “hard” coastal defense
• Understand the landscape: geography, occupation, but also economics, behaviour and politics