“It has been dry for weeks now”, says Albert Drewes of the Drents-Overijsselse Delta Water Board, who is involved in water level management every day. He and his colleagues manage the rivers, lakes, ditches and streams in an area that stretches between roughly Assen and Deventer, including places such as Beilen, Hoogeveen, Meppel and Zwolle.
In the spring, the amount of precipitation went in the right direction, but if we believe the forecasts, it will remain very dry, except for a chance shower. “We are therefore aiming for maximum polling; keeping as much water as possible in the system. And that has to be done with what we get,” Drewes points to the rainfall that seems to be staying out for the time being.
With the strategy to keep the level of the surface waters up to standard max the groundwater system is somewhat influenced and thus the soil is kept wet. Nature should reap the benefits of that.
“We are doing what we can,” emphasizes Drewes, although he adds that the task is huge. “You want the water in a plot to stay there and not evaporate. But with the northeasterly wind coming up now, the evaporation goes fast and you quickly lose everything.”