Southwest Delta:
Rhine Estuary-Drechtsteden under accelerating sea level rise

The Rhine Estuary-Drechtsteden Region owes its prosperity to its advantageous location in the delta, where the North Sea and the rivers Rhine and Meuse converge. It is a region of extremes, featuring densely populated urban areas surrounded by cultural landscapes and nature reserves.

The area is developing rapidly and needs to address issues such as sea level rise and soil subsidence. The water and flood risk management of the main water system is of supra regional and international importance in many respects. It affects water availability for agriculture, water supply and inland shipping up to Germany and Belgium, it influences the entrance to the port of Rotterdam and it determines the ecological connectivity of the Rhine and Meuse rivers to the North sea. Consequently the region avails of a complicated infrastructure for water and flood risk management, dykes, storm surge barrier, locks, and sluices.

Decision making on water management in the region concerns a large  set of stakeholders on many levels, scales, and sectors: the port of Rotterdam worries about  the entrance to the port, NGOs advance nature and ecological concerns and opportunities onto the policy agenda, Rijkswaterstaat and Water Boards take their responsibility for water safety and regional water management, and water supply companies and agriculture and horticulture guards their intakes of fresh water.