DELTARES – Enabling Delta Life

a new Dutch institute for national and international delta issues

In mid-2007, the Netherlands will gain an institute for applied research and specialist consultancy. The new institute will develop, disseminate and “export” knowledge, and also use it for specialist consultancy services. In doing so, it will contribute to the sustainable management, use and design of low-lying, densely-populated deltas. The name of the institute is Deltares and its goal is to improve the habitability of vulnerable delta areas.

Bundling experience and knowledge

Deltares brings together Dutch knowledge, experience and specialists in the area of water and the subsurface. It is hoped that this will strengthen the international position of the Netherlands in terms of both knowledge and competitiveness. Deltares wants to be in the international top flight in the field of water and the subsurface. It will use an integrated approach to develop innovative solutions.

The institute supplies services to both government and the corporate sector and will collaborate intensively with knowledge institutions in the Netherlands and in other countries.

The new institute will bring together WL | Delft Hydraulics, GeoDelft, parts of TNO Built Environment and Geosciences and parts of specialist services* of the Dutch Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). The Deltares workforce will be 700 to 800 FTEs in the initial stages. Turnover is projected at € 80 million a year. The institute will be housed in Delft and Utrecht.

Life in the delta

Life is good in delta areas. Fertile soil, rich nature and the favourable location close to water mean that people's lives have concentrated in deltas over the centuries. But delta areas are also vulnerable areas. The natural fluctuations in water levels, the unpredictability of nature and the possible impact of global climate change make water management indispensable. And not all the ground in deltas can be used; weak subsurfaces, settlement and the impact of mineral extraction throw up challenges to the efficient and sustainable use of the subsurface.

There is a growing awareness worldwide that we are at the start of a climate change. Over the coming decades, the consequences will become increasingly clear. Wet winters will get wetter, dry summers drier, rainfall and storms will become more severe. This has consequences for everyone in cities, in the countryside, and along the rivers and coast. Flood discharges in rivers may increase or even severely decrease during droughts. Groundwater levels will rise generally, and fall more during the summer. The rise in sea levels will have significant implications for our coasts and lead to rising salt levels in upwelling groundwater.

The impact of climate change will be felt all over the world, but particularly in low-lying delta areas such as the Netherlands. In 2030, it is estimated that some 80% of the world’s population will be living in deltas. Urbanisation, falling ground levels and rising sea levels will impact safety. Protection and risk management for floods will require our unremitting attention. The limited space available and the weak subsurface also present enormous challenges when it comes to keeping densely-populated areas inhabitable.

* The Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute (DWW), the Institute for Coastal and Marine Management (RIKZ) and the Institute for Inland Water Management and Wastewater Treatment (RIZA)

For more information:

Roeli Suiker, info@deltares.nl, tel. + 31 (0)15-2693561

More information about the participating organizations:

GeoDelft

WL | Delft Hydraulics

TNO Bouw en Ondergrond

Rijkswaterstaat RIKZ

Rijkswaterstaat RIZA

Rijkswaterstaat DWW