What is the case?

Deltaland Netherlands has a long history of adapting to water, but also of adjusting water to our needs. This has resulted in a sophisticated water management system where numerous waterways have been dug for proper drainage, river courses have been modified, and the discharge and water levels of small rivers and waterways are intensively managed. The extreme high waters of 1993 and 1995 highlighted that we may have constrained the major rivers too much and that, for future water safety, it is necessary to give more room to the water. Since 2006, the Room for the River (RfR) programme has created extra space for the discharge of extreme amounts of river water in various places. This extra space for water often simultaneously provides opportunities for the restoration of different river habitats or the creation of new river nature areas and space for recreation.

The floods in the summer of 2021 and the high water around Christmas 2023 due to extreme regional rainfall indicate that it is also important to look at the smaller rivers.

What does the project do about it?

In this project, students, in collaboration with and under the guidance of researcher-lecturers, will better map the potential of nature-based management of several small rivers (the Linge, the Overijsselse Vecht, and the Lauwers) for climate adaptation. Opportunities for synergy between the characteristics of the area (including existing nature reserves) and possible Nature-based Solutions will be sought.

What does the project deliver?

• Opportunity maps for Nature-based Adaptation and Mitigation along the small rivers the Linge, the Overijsselse Vecht, and the Lauwers.
• Insight into the relationship between the water management of small rivers and the nature reserves along the river and nature and usage functions in the catchment area of these small rivers.
• Insight into the possible impact of adaptation measures for the large rivers and waters on the water management of the small rivers, the river-related nature reserves along the small rivers, and the natural values and usage functions in the catchment area of the small rivers.

Project details

• Applied Research Group leader: Jantsje van Loon-Steensma
• Researcher-lecturers: Dan Assendorp, Haydar Hussin, Gert Jan van der Veen, Bram van Leeuwen
• Project duration: 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2026
• Project partners: Water Board Rivierenland, Province of Overijssel, Staatsbosbeheer (Dutch Forestry Commission)
• SDGs: 13, 15