Due to persistent drought and falling water levels, Brabant water boards are expanding the prohibition of withdrawal this week. In more and more areas it is forbidden to use water from ditches and streams for spraying fields and sports fields. The measure is necessary to protect water quality and to limit damage to nature, according to the water boards.
Since the beginning of February there is less rain than average and that causes problems with the water level. Many streams and ditches in Brabant depend on precipitation. If the rain is not forthcoming and the temperature rises, the water level drops into streams and ditches at a rapid pace. Various Brabant water boards have already taken measures in recent months. For example, there was a withdrawal ban in electricity areas of Water Board De Dommel and Water Board Brabantse Delta and no surface water was used to spray gardens, sports fields and fields.
In the coming weeks a lot of sun and little rainfall will be predicted. That is nice for those who want to take a terrace, but unfavorable for nature. When the water level drops, the flow decreases and the water quality gets worse. This has consequences for animals and plants in and around the water. To prevent that, the water boards take new measures.
Since Thursday there is a prohibition of withdrawal for the entire Dommel area. Also in the districts below Aa, above Aa and Window of Water Board AA and Maas, no surface water may be extracted anymore. The Brabantse Delta Water Board expanded the area where the prohibition applies on Wednesday. Also in parts of the Rivierenland water board it has been forbidden since Wednesday to use water from ditches for spraying.
What is a prohibition of withdrawal?
With a prohibition of withdrawal, ditch or stream water may not be used for irrigation, spraying gardens and public gardens. Drinking cattle and combating fire with surface water is allowed in the event of a prohibition of withdrawal.
“The precipitation deficit in the Netherlands rose at the end of June to the level of the Record Droog year 1976. An withdrawal ban helps to maintain the water quality as much as possible and to protect plants and animals in and around the water. It is now extra important to retain the water that is there,” says De Dommel Water Board.
According to Mado Ruijs van Water Board De Dommel, the wet fall has ensured that the drought did not strike before. “The Dommel area came ‘wet the winter’: high groundwater levels and very wet soils after all the rain of 2024. Beks and locks were filled. Last January also a lot of rain fell. It turned over again. Without this wet starting situation, the drought would probably have struck earlier.”
