Drought and freshwater supply in a changing climate

Climate change is forcing municipalities and water managers to re-analyse the design and functioning of the area they manage. After all, we must continue to ensure dry feet, dry streets and dry basements. But climate change does not only concern flooding or flooding, drought and heat are also becoming more extreme.

From 2010, the Delta Programme Freshwater deals with climate resilience for drought. This involves technical measures such as robust supply routes, smart use of buffers in the ground and surface water and innovations such as brackish seepage capture or effluent reuse. Increased awareness and self-sufficiency among users is also important. Tackling drought is important; the Delta Programme has estimated that the social burden from subsidence and pile rot is even higher than for flooding.

The focus was initially in the rural area but the drought task is also increasingly recognised in the Delta Plan for Spatial Adaptation, where it is a regular part of the stress tests that municipalities now go through. Knowing that, on average, two-thirds of Europe's population lives in cities and that this will only increase, this will put enormous pressure on planning and liveability. So we need to look especially smartly for measures that not only improve climate adaptation but also positively affect the liveability of the city, such as water plazas, public green spaces and recreational areas. When it comes to dealing with more extreme precipitation, drought and heat, besides adapting the layout of the city, it is also about how we live in the city, how we spend our leisure time or how we get around. The layout of the city in turn affects this. With this, it has become even more important to look beyond your own specialist boundaries.

During this evening, we will highlight the challenges of adapting our existing systems to the changing climate, both from a rural and urban perspective. In doing so, we are happy to engage in a discussion with you.

Speaker(s)

Dolf Kern works at Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland and sits on the programme team of the Delta Programme Freshwater and Spatial Adaptation on behalf of the Union of Water Boards. Mathijs van Vliet works at Movares and is involved in NL Ingenieurs for climate adaptation. Mattijs Hehenkamp is also working at Movares as consultant water and space.

Name and contact details for information

Erik van Capelleveen
erik.van.capelleveen@hdsr.nl