Water safety

Safe dikes and dunes

Our climate is changing: the sea level is rising, it rains more often, the soil is subsiding and we are facing high water more often. If we do nothing, North Holland - which is largely below sea level - will be flooded. It is therefore important that we properly maintain, manage and if necessary improve 1,400 kilometers of dikes and dunes, along the coast, along canals and lakes and around polders.

  • Crisis Management

    Calamities can never be ruled out. Extra manpower, machinery and equipment are on standby.

  • Inspect

    We inspect our levees for damage. This gives us a picture of their condition.

  • Maintain

    Based on inspections and maintenance plans, we determine maintenance activities.

  • Checking hydraulic engineering structures

    Annually, we test all the hydraulic engineering structures in our area, such as locks, cutoffs and dams.

  • Licensing

    If you want to conduct activities near a dike or quay, you usually need a water permit.

  • Supervision & enforcement

    We monitor compliance with the Water Board Ordinance. If necessary, we may take enforcement action.

  • Assess safety

    We assess every 12 years whether our primary flood defenses still meet the required standards. 

  • Strengthen

    Flood defenses that no longer meet standards must be strengthened.

  • Collaborating on Artworks

    By 2050 over 900 Artworks in the Netherlands will be water safe. Quite a big task over the next 30 years.

  • Invasive exotics

    Exotics are plants or animals that do not naturally occur in our country, but have entered the natural world through human activity.