Waterassessment

The Netherlands is a highly urbanised delta of which a great part is situated below sea level. In the past decade the country has been faced with extremely high river discharges which forced thousands of people to evacuate, with flooded areas caused by extreme rainfall, with groundwater problems in urban areas and desiccation of nature.

It is widely acknowledged that, to prevent a further increase of these problems, changes are necessary in water management as well as in spatial planning. To ensure the integration of water aspects into the spatial planning process, ‘Water Assessment’ has been introduced in 2001.

Water Assessment is a process in which water managers are involved actively in the development of any spatial plan from the earliest stages on. This instrument has only recently been introduced, but the results up till now are promising.

The objectives of WA are to guarantee that water interests are taken into account in spatial and land use planning, so that negative effects on the water system are prevented or compensated for elsewhere. This integration of water in spatial planning works in two ways: a plan is assessed on its implications for the water system and the restraints that the water system puts on land use are made explicit.