The persistent drought is becoming an increasing problem in nature in Brabant. The water level is way too low for the time of year. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain anytime soon. So Brabant water boards must take measures. Never before has that happened so early in the season.
In Central Brabant, water is almost no longer allowed to be pumped from streams and ditches. This measure, introduced by the De Dommel Water Board, is intended to protect the plants and animals around the water from drought. The temperatures are high and it hardly rains. Never before has a ban been imposed so early in the year.
Due to the heat and drought of recent months, the water level is falling very quickly. March was dry and almost nothing fell in April. An abstraction ban is needed to ensure that there is no longer any water in the ditch.
At the same time, Watergraaf Erik de Ridder tries to retain as much water as possible. He takes us to a dam near Vessem: “The water here is 40 centimeters lower than normal around this time of year, which is really significant.” Yet he cannot break an iron with his hands: “We cannot hold water that is not there.”
Supply via rivers
Not all Water Boards go as far as De Dommel. At the Brabantse Delta Water Board (West Brabant), no water may be abstracted in six of the eighteen areas, and at the Aa en Maas Water Board there is no ban at all on pumping water from ditches and streams. According to a spokesperson, they can still supply enough water there via adjacent rivers.
Watergraaf De Ridder takes us to another place in his area where you can clearly see the consequences of the drought: the Wit Hollandven on the Landschotse Heide, near Oirschot. A beautiful area, with a pond in the middle. “You can normally swim in that.” But the waterline is now fifteen to twenty meters away: “So I wouldn’t try that now,” says De Ridder.
Structural measures
According to him, the drought requires structural measures: “We will have to adapt our area to the changing circumstances. Water retention should become the norm. So we have to give as much space as possible to the water throughout the year, so that we can combat the drought.”
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