I had so much fun last week! I made some good progress on my research and spent two days on field trips. UNESCO-IHE was hosting a water learning week for a group of Asian delegates from five different countries. The focus was on “greening cities” in river basins. The field trips were part of their program and provided a nice insight for me into water management projects in the Netherlands. I also got to meet many of the delegates and speak with them about current projects/issues in their home countries.
On Tuesday we went to Rotterdam where we saw the largest green roof in Europe and a water storage facility under a parking garage. The green roof is still under construction, but we had a pretty good view of it from the 21st floor of a nearby building. The underground water storage facility is used during times of heavy rainfall to reduce the risk of flooding in the city. It has a capacity of 2.6 million gallons. We had a personal tour of the control room and were shown how they flush the tanks clean after the temporary water storage is not needed anymore. In the afternoon, we traveled to the city of Dordrecht by waterbus. It was a beautiful day so it was nice to spend some time in the sunshine and on the water. Dordrecht was hit hard by a massive flood in 1421 that turned the city into the island that it is today. Overtime the city rebounded and the surrounding water contributed to the city’s prosperity and regrowth. Today the city of Dordrecht realizes that the water serves as both an opportunity and a threat. They are taking measures to reduce their vulnerability to flooding and the effects of climate change. The city is using this situation as an opportunity to integrate water policy and urban development in order to ensure their safety and resilience long into the future. Participation in projects like the MARE project (see link below) are facilitating these efforts.
Rotterdam Green Roof (still under construction)
Parking Garage with underground water storage
Underground water storage fact sheet #1
Underground water storage fact sheet #2
Took Waterbus from Rotterdam to Dordrecht
Waterbus
The field trip on Wednesday was jam packed. We visited the Harnaschpolder wastewater treatment plant, a large freshwater national park called the Biesbosch (and a nearby Room for the Rivers project), a drinking water reservoir, we returned to Dordrecht for a second day, and made a quick stop at Kinderdijk on the way back to Delft. I could write an essay on the things we saw and learned this day, but I’m sure that you all would appreciate an abridged version instead. To sum it up: we saw a holistic view of how water travels through the landscape, the way the Dutch are taking steps to incorporate water back into their surroundings (after many years of attempting to keep it out), the way it is purified into drinking water, how it is processed after it becomes wastewater, and what steps are being taken to climate proof valuable areas from rising water levels. It was an awesome day filled with neat sites and a lot of interesting people. The cherry on top was the visit to Kinderdijk on the way home. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site with 19 windmills. It was absolutely stunning!
At the Harnaschpolder Wastewater Treatment Plant
Awesome model of the Room for the Rivers Project (it changed colors to show the level of the rising water)
Dordrecht
The Windmills at Kinderdijk
Needless to say I had an awesome week getting out of the office and seeing the sites. I also enjoyed seeing some more of the local sites (around Delft and the Hague) since my parents happened to be visiting this week too. I hope you enjoy the photos and the links to some of the places I visited.
Jennifer
Rotterdam underground water storage: http://www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl/en/100_climate_proof/news/news/?news_id=743
Dordrect: http://www.mare-project.eu/partners/3/laa-dordrecht
The Biesbosch: http://www.np-debiesbosch.nl/documents/home.xml?lang=en
Kinderdijk: http://www.kinderdijk.com/