Rooms for Rivers

Policy development

For a strategic research project in the 1990s, (The Rhine on the Long-term), Deltares explored whether and how The Netherlands could accommodate a 30% increase in flood discharges from the Rhine River. Deltares concluded that rivers need more room and that careful planning will avoid losing land to the river, for example by combining the discharge function with flood proof land-use functions.

Deltares further quantified that since 1850 the loss of floodplain surface area amounts to some 65% and that urban development created many bottlenecks in the floodplain. Giving more room to rivers will substantially lower flood levels and sustain a more attractive environment, both urban and natural. The outcome of this project greatly influenced public and political opinions. Room for Rivers is now the guiding principle for climate change adaptation along our major rivers.

Implementation

In the 1990s, The Netherlands adopted the policy “Room for Rivers” to achieve the required safety level for the river systems. In 2005, specific targets were set at national level and local authorities became responsible for the design and construction of individual measures along the Rhine, Scheldt and Meuse rivers.

Deltares performs audits of these designs and makes assessments of their combined large-scale effects on the river system. In addition to hydraulic effects, we also quantify geotechnical effects, subsurface and groundwater effects and morphological effects.