Area development climate buffer Ooijen
Description
Large parts of the Meuse valley are 'naturally' protected due to their elevation. As a result, no dykes or quays were needed for a long time. Between the villages of Ooijen and Wanssum is one of the few places where the Meuse has cut through its high banks. Here, the river formed a 10-kilometre-long natural bypass, which flowed along during high tides and thus had an important function in times of high water.
This Old Meuse arm flooded regularly and habitation stayed away from the lower parts of the area. After 1926, however, no high waters occurred for a very long time. From a frequently flooded area (high waters in 1880, 1920, 1924 and 1926), the Old Meuse arm became a 'slacking' Meuse arm. From 1926 to 1993, major developments took place in the low parts of the area. The construction of the bridge to Well placed Wanssum on a through road. Along this road, houses, residential areas, sports fields and a business park appeared. Scattered in the Oude Maasarm area, new houses, greenhouses, commercial buildings, farms and camping sites were built. The risk of flooding disappeared from the collective memory.
After keeping calm for almost 70 years, the Meuse showed its teeth in 1993 and 1995. Residents are taken by surprise and houses, businesses and campsites suffer severe flooding and significant damage. After these high waters, emergency quays are constructed along the entire Meuse under the Delta Act on Large Rivers. The Oude Maasarm is closed with emergency quays at Ooijen and Blitterswijck, pending sustainable river management measures. But more than 15 years later, the dykes are still in the wrong place, villages are still not properly protected and an unnecessarily large part of the area is weighed down by rigid sectoral water regulations that block further economic development.
The region is choosing to remain uncertain for longer and is opting to tackle the problems now. Governments, businesses and citizens are providing the right solutions with local knowledge and in consultation with each other. This far-reaching series of measures, including dyke relocations and high-water channels, will lead to unprecedented positive effects for the Meuse, which will affect as much as 40 kilometres upstream. Dike construction in the right places provides both protection where it must and space for the water where it can. This puts the Meuse in order for now and the future in such a way that all unnecessary regulations can be scrapped and space for development and activity is created again
We will be welcomed by an employee of the Ooijen - Wanssum area office, who will explain this comprehensive project with an investment amount of over €60 million to us. We will then visit one of the subprojects under implementation - the climate buffer - in the area.
Location
Project office Ooijen-Wanssum in Meerlo
Organiser
Region North and Central Limburg
Name and contact details for information
Chantal Konings - van der Goor 06 - 524 01 357