In the water board area of De Dommel, almost twice as much rain as normal has been falling for eight months. According to the water board, it is causing inconvenience in many places.
Normally, about 520 millimetres of water fall from October to June. In recent seasons, however, precipitation has been considerably higher with 850 to 1,000 millimetres of water, 65 to 90% more than usual. ‘Never before have we seen groundwater in Brabant so high for so long. Even in high, mostly dry places. That is unprecedented,’ the water board reported.
‘And that too, for months, everywhere in the region. High groundwater causes wet basements, large puddles, and whole plots of land under water. Due to the high groundwater levels, the Dommel area is now extra sensitive to downpours: the water no longer soaks into the soil and causes immediate problems,’ says the waterboard.
Interventions
Waterschap de Dommel was busy in recent years with interventions to retain water longer in nature. It was not surprising because in previous years long periods of drought occurred in the region. The fact that the water now remains high has little to do with those interventions, the water board says.
No connection
‘First results of the research show that the connection is not there,’ says Erik de Ridder, the Chair of Dutch water board. ‘It is wet everywhere, even in places where there have been no interventions for years, groundwater is high. Rain is also causing problems outside our area and in large parts of our country. Frustrating, but a fact.’
‘The water system cannot cope against three seasons of so much rain,’ says De Ridder. ‘If this period shows us anything, it is that working on a much more robust water system is desperately needed.’
Source: Studio040
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta
