This week marks 25 years since Drenthe was ravaged by flooding. So much rain fell that streams and canals overflowed their banks. Streets, homes and businesses were flooded as a result. Meppel and the surrounding area were particularly hard hit. Not only Prime Minister Wim Kok, but also Queen Beatrix came to take stock and visit a few affected companies.
The situation was so serious in the greenhouse area near Erica and in Coevorden that military assistance was requested. Much to the chagrin of Queen’s Commissioner Relus ter Beek, it took almost twelve hours before soldiers finally arrived to help fill sandbags.
According to the cabinet, this was an exceptional natural phenomenon that does not occur more than once every 125 years. But there was more going on: our water management was no longer in order. To prevent future water problems, water boards joined forces. They implemented measures in various places in Drenthe to ensure that Drenthe does not flood again.
“You should see Drenthe as an upside-down soup plate, where we want to retain more on top of the soup plate, we want to store it in the middle of the soup plate, and we want to drain it at the bottom,” explains Sander Habing of the Drents Overijsselse Delta Water Board.
Water retention is done, for example, on the Dwingelderveld, by constructing small weirs and by raising the landscape. Water is temporarily parked at the Panjerd Veeningen water storage facility, along the A28. A total of one million cubic meters of water can be stored. In Zwartsluis, the capacity of the Zedemuden pumping station has been increased, in order to be able to drain even more water from Meppel. That water comes from Assen and flows via Meppel to the IJsselmeer. Such measures have also been taken at many other locations in Drenthe.
According to Habing, you can never be completely sure whether the measures are sufficient to prevent a disaster like the one in 1998. “The situation like in ’98 does not happen often. Maybe once in a lifetime or less often. But we will have to wait and see how the future unfolds, also in view of climate changes.”