Videos and information on Dutch high water

City of Nijmegen:

City of Deventer:

Provinces Limburg and Gelderland:

Province of Limburg:

Rules for high water prevention measures per river can be accessed here.

News - January

Nu.nl reports:

• 2010 year with most natural disasters in the past 2 decades

The UN ordered a research from the CRED in Belgium, and they have found 297.000 deaths due to natural disasters in 2010. The Haitian earthquake was responsible for 222.500 deaths, followed by the heatwave in Russia with 55.000 deaths.

Looking at the most costly disasters, the total of costs is estimated at 80 billion euro. The earthquake causing a tsunami in Chili ranks at the top, followed by floods and landslides in China and Pakistan.

207 million people were affected by natural disasters; 89 percent of the affected areas was in Asia.

Source >>>

The Dutch government reports:

• Expansion of the province Zuid-Holland into the ocean

The project Zandmotor (Sand motor), for which I approved one of the many necessary permits, has started today. 21.5 million cubic meter of sand are applied at one point of the coast. Natural effects of wind, waves and sea currents will spread out this sand along the coast line. This project is thought to naturally enhance water safety and enlarge the recreational area of the coast, while costing less as there is no longer the need to locally add sand every 5 years. 100 hectares of new land are expected to come into existence.

Movie >>>

Research institute Deltares reports:

• New version of OpenMI released

Integrating environmental models to test sustainability and impacts of policies is now even easier with the new version of OpenMI. Details >>>

Magazine H2O reports:

• Enclosure Dam not up to standards

Provinces Friesland and Noord-Holland have informed the minister of Infrastructure and the Environment that the Enclosure Dam in the North of the Netherlands once again fails to meet the legal safety standards. Corresponding sluices and drain resources also didn't comply with the standards. It is now up to the government to take adequate measures. More>>>

• Water board de Dommel starts e-panel with civilians

The water board de Dommel, in the South of the Netherlands, has initiated an online civilian panel in order to have the activities of the water board connect better with desires of civilians. People joining the survey receive a free 'shower coach', which aids in reducing water usage. More>>>

• Military aircraft F-16 aids in dike movement inspections

The water board Peel and Maasvallei in the South-East of the Netherlands has had the aid of an F-16 to determine possible dike movements. The aircraft used the Recce-Lite system, and the results were good: all dikes in the area are stable. More>>>

Japan's aging representative for the rest of the world?

News Watch 9 has a report about the 'Japan Syndrome', the rapid aging of society, commented on by Henry Tricks, head of the Tokyo office of The Economist. Find the movie here (Japanese) and the article from The Economist here (English).

News - December

The magazine De Ingenieur reports:

• Plan for evacuating the Netherlands

Pierre Belanger from Harvard University states that the Netherlands should have better evacuation plans, and proposes a sequence that starts with rural areas, then urban areas and finally city centers. He points at New Orleans where 1.5 million people where moved in 36 hours.

• A new book:

'De Bostatlas van Nederland Waterland' or The Atlas of the Netherlands with a focus on water has been released. (ISBN 978 9001 90203 2)

• Using emotions when judging high-risk technologies

Sabine Roeser from the University of Twente and Technical University Delft pleads to use emotions when judging high-risk technologies to decrease the gap between scientific experts and the public. Many new technologies are not accepted by the public due to misinformation about the risks involved. Experts should investigate what risks the public sees and prove the results of failure of new technologies have less sever effects as imagined.

The magazine H2O reports:

• The economic importance of delta technology

A research performed by Panteia and Blueconomy show the total turnover in the sector delta technology for the Netherlands is 7.5 billion (Dutch: miljard) euro. About 4 billion comes from the international market, which is 6% of the total market of 120 billion euro (2008). Given climate change and increase in population, the expected growth is 15 billion euro per year.

• A new model predicting evacuation outcomes

The company HKV Lijn in Water had created a new model called EvacuAid, that has many variable parameters and lets users see how many people are evacuated from a certain area, from 0 to 48 hours after the call for evacuation. It also forecasts the number of casualties, based on results in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Interestingly enough the model shows preventive evacuation could cost more casualties than 'vertical evacuation' (where people are told to move up a floor or sit on their roof), depending on the area and the time available for evacuation.

• Results from the first 5 Space Studio meetings along the Rhine

The water board Rivierenland, covering the Eastern part of the Rhine, has created meeting rooms where spatial planners and water experts can meet and share plans. These so-called Space Studio meetings have taken place in 5 municipalities and focused on problems at the local level. Everywhere multiple solutions were thought up for the separate problems, and this success has led to the extension of the meetings to another 5 municipalities.

The Dutch government reports:

• The Future of the Enclosure Dam

The Department of Public Works is developing a plan for the future of the Enclosure Dam in the North of the Netherlands. Three different alternatives are being constructed based on meetings between provinces and other governors, environmental reports and expected costs. The ultimate choice will also depend on finances and agreements between parties. More >>>

• A movie about the SBW (Strengths and Taxes of Weirs) Program:

A movie will be released about the SBW, a program form the Department of Public Works. Three of the nine research areas are explained in the movie, along with how the results are used to enlarge water safety in the Netherlands. Link to the video >>>

Earthquakes Japan 2010

This is an overview of all the earthquakes in Japan in 2010, sorted per magnitude and shindo (震度, shaking intensity). This data was generated by using the Japan Meteorological Agency database.

The most earthquakes in a single category were shindo 1 and magnitude 3-3.9.
Shindo 1 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 1 to 5.9.
Shindo 2 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 1 to 6.9.
Shindo 3 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 1 to 6.9.
Shindo 4 earthquakes ranged from magnitude 4 to 7.9.
Shindo 5- earthquakes ranged from magnitude 4 to 7.9.

Below the frequency distribution of earthquakes during the year is shown:

Comparing the JMA statistics with the data from their database, two earthquakes were missing from the data in the database (one of shindo 2 and one of shindo 3).

JMA:

Intensity	震度７	震度６強	震度６弱	震度５強	震度５弱	震度４	震度３	震度２	震度１	Total
2010	0	0	0	0	5	32	99	294	883	1313

Database:

Intensity 震度７ 震度６強 震度６弱 震度５強 震度５弱 震度４ 震度３ 震度２ 震度１ Total 2010 0 0 0 0 5 32 98 293 883 1311

News in Japan - December

Prime Minister Naoto Kan will not fight the high court's decision to open the two floodgates of Isahaya Bay, overruling the plans of the farm ministry. More >>>

The National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management has released a newsletter.

Snow clearing in Japan:

While Europe has experienced many weeks of snow, which is now melting and causing local floods, in Japan there snow is dealt with quite effectively.

News - November

As seen in the ANWB magazine Kampioen:

• A triangular design from Jean Paul de Garde to solve space issues by combining ditches with bike paths:

The magazine De Ingenieur has a full length article about the redesigning of the Dutch Delta area near Rotterdam by visiting Harvard students, winning the Delta competition organised by engineering agency Royal Haskoning. More>>>

The magazine H2O reports:

• The new government:
  • The new government has decided that water boards will remain to exist.
  • Water board officials will be elected by city councils, rather than voted by the public.
  • All the current plans to finish deferred maintenance will also be executed to guarantee safety.
  • Future plans made by the Delta commission are under review.

• The Water Education day organised by UNESCO-IHE:

Professor Thea Hilhorst from Wageningen university showed an example of cultural differences. In Mozambique, earning money is often spatially divided but polygamy might prove a solution to climate change. A woman in the flood plains might provide food during droughts while a second woman in the hills provides during the wet season.

• The Deltaconference in Rotterdam:

Prince Willem van Oranje emphasized that we could be proud to have no flood victims since the storm surge of 1953, but now was the time to keep investing in a safe future. The costs of another flood, that might occur in 50 or 60 years, might not be affordable if we neglect this.

• A new book:

'Gebiedsontwikkeling in woelig water', a water governance book by Arwin van Buuren and others. More>>>

• New secretary of state for Infrastructure and environment promises clarity

At the first National Delta Conference the secretary of state for the new ministry of Infrastructure and Environment promised that water safety is an important building stone of the water policies of the current government. This year it would be made clear which investments are necessary to guarantee the safety in the Netherlands in the future. This year it will be decided if the norms for safety are to be adjusted and what this will cost. The current proposed funds advised by the Delta Act are 1 billion euro, to be spent from 2022 onwards.

Video of the prince (water ambassador) and more here.

• Ministries and provinces are determined to plan the Main Ecological Structure (Ecologische HoofdStructuur)

Within now 9 months it should become clear what the Main Ecological Structure (EHS) will look like in 2018. It was originally designed as a series of connected natural areas, but problems have risen with buying all of the envisioned connecting areas. More >>>

• New regulations for floating houses

The ministry of Traffic, Spatial planning and the Environment has released a document explaining all the regulations concerning floating houses, aimed at developers, builders and municipal plan testers.

Download it here.