News item | 18-03-2022 | 15:30
Water is of vital importance to the Netherlands. Water affects where and how we live, our nature, drinking water, shipping, agriculture and industry. To keep the Netherlands safe, attractive and liveable for future generations, the National Water Program 2022-2027 (NWP) has been established.
Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management:
We also want a safe and climate-proof delta with clean drinking water for future generations. The cabinet agrees that water and soil should be leading in spatial planning in the Netherlands and has made extra money available for climate and agricultural transition and for the restoration of nature. In addition, there is extra money for the management and maintenance of infrastructure, including national waters. The National Water Program helps us to properly organize these major tasks for the coming years. In order to realize this, collaboration with water boards, provinces, municipalities, social organisations, sector parties, (drinking water) companies and citizens is necessary.
National Water Program
The NWP describes the main features of the national water policy and the management of national waters and national waterways for the period 2022-2027. Due to climate change, land subsidence, environmental pollution, loss of biodiversity and spatial pressure, the water tasks in the Netherlands are becoming increasingly larger and more complex. In addition, there is a major task in the implementation of maintaining outdated infrastructure such as bridges and locks and replacing or renovating it where necessary. An integrated approach involving the energy transition, housing construction and the transition in rural areas is necessary. Important components of the NWP are the river basin management plans, the flood risk management plan and the North Sea Programme.
The NWP was developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, in collaboration with umbrella associations, social organizations and sector and sector parties.
North Sea Program
The North Sea Program describes the basic principles for an efficient and safe spatial development of the North Sea, balancing the various forms of use with major changes in the field of food and energy production and nature conservation, as agreed in the North Sea Agreement. For example, it regulates the designation of wind energy areas that are necessary for the realization of 10.7 GW extra wind energy in line with the cabinet’s climate targets of at least a 55% CO2 reduction by 2030. the natural values of the North Sea and other users of the North Sea, such as shipping, fishing, mining and defence, are taken into account.