Availability of freshwater and drinking water in Netherlands

Peer review

20 November 2024

By Platform

On 6-7 November 2024, the Policy Learning Platform held an onsite peer review for the Provinces of Noord and Zuid Holland, which requested advice regarding their policy challenge on availability of freshwater and drinking water in the context of changing climate.

The challenge was explained well by the King's Commissioner Arthur Van Dijk, who opened the Peer Review: "We are not yet adequately prepared for the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts hitting our regions more frequently. We will thus see that the water topic will move to the top of the political agenda."

The provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland face significant challenges concerning water management due to the impacts of climate change and growing population. With periods of both water abundance and scarcity becoming more frequent and severe, a robust and sustainable water management strategy is essential for maintaining agricultural productivity, urban water supplies, and overall environmental health.

Main policy challenges

Innovative water collection and storage methods
Ways to save water and make the distribution more efficient
What are some alternative water sources
Water conservation strategies

Peers from across Europe

Alongside Astrid Severin and Magda Michalikova, our Thematic Experts on ‘Greener Europe’, six excellent peers participated in the peer review:

Lies Deurinck, Provincie West-Vlaanderen (Belgium)
Olav Ojala, Head of Water Investment, Water Department, Ministry of Climate (Estonia)
Jordi Marin, Directorate-General for Water Management, Generalidad Valenciana (Spain)
María del Mar Navarro Sánchez, Directorate-General for Water Management, Generalidad Valenciana (Spain)
Ryle Gejl, Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Denmark)
Albert Ruiter, Project Coordinator FREIIA project, Provincie Friesland (Netherlands)

Some Recommendations

The primary challenge faced by the provinces of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland is the fluctuating availability of fresh water. During periods of heavy rainfall, existing infrastructure struggles to collect and store sufficient water to mitigate the impact of future droughts.Conversely, during dry spells, the demand for fresh water outstrips supply, placing immense pressure on drinking water companies and agricultural stakeholders. Several recommendations and key outcomes were established as a result of the discussions and presentations of the peers.

Aspire to redesign your current water management systems at all levels and develop a new future-proof strategy
Re-evaluate all existing resources and water qualities for potential alternative use
Decrease water consumption per capita
Decentralise and localise water abstraction
Implement a mix of solutions with nature-based solutions building the basis for long-term safety and cost-effectiveness
Dream big and start small (with some pilot projects)
Integrate water with other related policy areas (blue-green infrastructure, tourism, biodiversity...)
Work with your stakeholders (citizens, farmers, industry, tourism, academia...) and understand their needs
Keep in mind water quality and pollution prevention
Water is Life! Put a value on this precious resource!

The host’s policy challenges, and all the peer suggestions will be available shortly in the follow-up report.

“The peer review has shown us where we have blind spots in our water policy and provided many relevant solutions and ideas from all over Europe. We are now keen to prepare concrete follow-up plans, policy documents and to implement our first pilot actions.”

Arjan van de Lindeloof - Province of Zuid-Holland

Netherlands

“The key messages have been very interesting, and we need to go back to the drawing board, analyse our situation, revise our strategy and raise awareness about water. We will study the examples we have seen and will try to identify what we miss here in Holland and why.”