The Bargerveen water storage area has been put into use for the first time since its construction in 2016. Due to the heavy rain of the past few days, the water here is half a meter higher than usual
“The past few years have been dry years and last year it was normal. But yesterday it was time to open the area,” says Tjeerd Dijkstra, project leader at the Vechtstromen Water Board. This was partly due to a request from the Hunze and Aa’s water board, which was struggling with a lot of water in their area. “That was exciting for a while, but he is doing well.”
Normally there is also water in the water storage area, but nowadays there is room to store extra water in case of extreme rainfall. “Later today or tomorrow we will see if we can let the water flow away slowly again,” says Dijkstra. “Should such heavy showers fall again, the storage area will be ready to collect water again.”