In the coming years, the Maas will be used to combat the drought in De Peel and to bring the groundwater up to standard. To this end, the Aa and Maas, Brabantse Delta, De Dommel, Limburg Water Board and Rijkswaterstaat have concluded an agreement. Rijkswaterstaat announced this on Tuesday.
The Maas water is supplied via the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the Wilhelmina Canal, the Wessem-Nederweert Canal and the Noordervaart. The water is fed into the area via these channels, so that ditches and streams do not run dry and the groundwater level is replenished.
Acting as one water manager
The advantage of this approach is that in the event of heavy rainfall, the water can be drained more quickly through these channels, in order to prevent flooding.
Rijkswaterstaat and water boards will also cooperate better and act as one water manager. It has also been agreed that 2000 liters of water per second will be supplied to the Noordervaart and the Peel canals. “That is important for the water supply for nature and agriculture in Limburg and North Brabant,” emphasizes a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. “We are currently working on enabling the supply of the extra water.”