We still have one last rainy week ahead of us, but 2023 is already the wettest year on record. So far, 1,126 millimeters of rain has fallen across the country, breaking the record set in 1998. Then 1109 millimeters of rain fell. All that rain is not yet causing major problems in Brabant, but the Aa en Maas Water Board must work hard to keep it that way.
In recent years we have been inundated with reports about drought. In 2018, 500 millimeters of rain fell in Brabant and last year 650 millimeters. But this year almost double the amount of precipitation fell. “That is really extreme,” says Jos Kruit of the water board.
“A supply is important, but the water is now very high.”
All that rain causes inconvenience at people’s homes. “We have been receiving a lot of reports of crawl spaces and basements being flooded since October,” says Kruit. “People are shocked by this because they have never experienced it before. That has everything to do with those very high groundwater levels and basements that are not waterproof.”
You would say that a surplus of rain can ideally be collected for use in times of drought. But unfortunately it is not that easy, Jos explains. “The groundwater supply is important. But the water is now very high. Perhaps a bit too high. In Brabant there is now almost no space left to store groundwater.”
Yet there is no reason to panic yet. The water from the Dommel and the Aa can still flow into the Maas, because there is no high water there yet. “And if that does happen, we still have several water storage areas around Den Bosch that can temporarily flood to store excess water,” says Jos.
“That is why we will have to give water more space in the future.”
Wearing sturdy wellies, he walks through a swampy nature reserve in Middelrode, which has been flooded because the water of the Aa overflows its banks. But it is allowed here, says Kruit. “We call this a dynamic stream valley. Here we consciously give the water space.”
He expects that more and more extremes will arise in the future. “We have had a huge drought over the past three years. Now it is extremely wet. That is why we will have to give water more space for this, such as in this dynamic stream valley. That is a big job that will take many years, but we have already started.”
People at home can also take steps to prepare for more extreme rainfall in the future. “Make sure your basements are waterproof. Disconnect your drainpipe and let it run into the garden, place a rain barrel for drought times and ensure that the water does not flow into the sewer.”
