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NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:50
October was the wettest month ever measured by the KNMI and November is also on track to become soaking wet. In the coastal provinces, water boards are trying hard to drain the water to the sea. In the east of the country they want to retain the water.
“This is really very exceptional,” says climate expert Peter Siegmund of the KNMI. He expects about 110 millimeters of rain to fall in November. On average, about 80 millimeters falls this month.
“I expect that we will experience this more often in the coming decades: more rain in the autumn than we are used to.”
The precipitation record has several causes, says Siegmund. “The wind comes from the west and rain is a logical consequence.” In addition, the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than normal, causing more rain clouds. “This is due to climate change, but also due to the natural phenomenon El Niño.”
218 millimeters of rain fell in De Bilt in October, but between 200 and 220 millimeters of rainfall also fell on the Wadden Islands and in the coastal provinces:
NOS
Due to the heavy rainfall, it is necessary to work at the Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier in North Holland. The water board uses pumps to drain excess water. “Normally this is possible with the normal pump capacity. But now we have installed extra pumps in nine places to handle it,” says dike manager Remco Bosma.
More space for nature
Water boards have been working for some time to come up with solutions for flooding. A new pumping station opened last month in North Holland to better drain the water. “As a water board, we are the first to notice that climate change is occurring.”
Bosma is already thinking about how this should be done in the future. ”We cannot accommodate extremes. We must give more space to nature. That’s why we need more areas where you can store water if it’s too much for the system.”
Now the agricultural sector in particular is suffering from the bad weather, says Bosma. “They will notice that they are standing with their feet in the water and that can cause nuisance.”
Coal farmer Joris de Boer from ‘t Veld in North Holland digs ditches between his crops to drain the excess water:
Farmer sees crops drowning in the polder, where far too much rain falls
While efforts are being made to drain the excess water in the coastal provinces, the rain is more than welcome in the east of the country. Henk-Jan van der Veen, ecology forester in Twente: “Twente is a higher area with sandy soil, which causes the water to sink more quickly. We are happy with a lot of rain here.”
It has been very dry in recent years, especially in the areas close to the eastern border, he says. “In June it seemed for a while that this year would be dry again, but we are now at a good level in terms of groundwater.”
Closing ditches
There are no pumps to drain the water in Twente. There, forest rangers and water boards take measures to retain the water. For example, ditches are closed so that rainwater does not flow straight into the rivers, but soaks into the ground. And by making more space for wet nature reserves, buffers are created for dry periods.
Water management in the Netherlands has traditionally been tailored to agriculture, so the focus has always been on drainage, Van der Veen explains. But that is slowly but surely changing.
“Water boards are turning to retaining water instead of draining it. Agriculture has also noticed how important that is. It is important that you can get onto your land in March and April, but if there is a serious drought, agriculture there also has to suffer from.”
2023-11-08 16:50:40
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