Weblog deltacommissaris

On Monday last week I was present when the Prince of Orange opened the Sweet & Salt exhibition at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. The related book – which is also the catalogue – written by 2nd Delta Committee member Tracy Metz was presented at the same time.  It was a lovely occasion, focusing on the theme of water. 

On Tuesday we were shocked by the news about the vulnerability to hacking of Scada systems which are also used in water management. The delta is thus also vulnerable in terms of the IT systems in use. All municipalities and water management bodies are on the alert once more, I hope. Rijkswaterstaat (the executive arm of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment) and the water authorities were already busy with this issue. 
On Wednesday I enjoyed a meal with the nine programme directors, who had had a 24-hour session in Dordrecht about work on the Delta Programme. It was not only enjoyable but it was also really good to see that this group of the crème de la crème is becoming more and more a team, together with the director of my staff. They constitute our DP top-10.

On Thursday I gave an interview for the ‘special’ that the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) is making for the 6th World Water Forum in Marseilles in early March. Not only will the Prince of Orange be attending (in his UN capacity) but State Secretary Atsma, the chair of the Association of Regional Water Authorities and I will be there too. There is important work to be done to make the international community a fellow participant in the Dutch Delta Approach. Dutch companies will be there as well, via the NWP.

An article in the daily newspaper De Volkskrant caught my eye on Thursday: it stated that scientists in the United States are being paid to voice scepticism about climate change. Luckily, we in the Delta Programme can work on the basis of measurements and validated, possible scenarios for the future which we need to take into account. Practical, transparent and verifiable.  

On Friday I visited the north and spoke to the provincial executive councillors in Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe about their experiences with and insights regarding the Delta Programme. All three are very committed and experienced administrators, dedicated to water affairs. Most enjoyable talks.

Last week ‘ice fever’ hit the country. Something different from high water, evacuations or drought: 'hard' water this time. Over the past week my staff and I paid a lot of attention to further preparing the DP2013.
After a consultation on Monday, I submitted recommendations to the Director-General of Spatial Planning & Water Affairs about the amendment of the Water Act, in connection with the new agreements made regarding high water protection in the Administrative Agreement on Water Affairs. Now that the working method involving the Delta Programme has been set down in law, an efficient, innovative approach is possible. We are all agreed on this. Integrated defences as part of the safety issue dealt with in the Delta Programme, and making use of the by now tried and tested working method in the regions that fall under the Delta Programme.

On Wednesday I attended a very useful conference hosted by the Room for the River programme. We learned how the approach of the Delta Programme could be best be shaped in terms of this programme. We will set out all the lessons learned to try and retain knowledge and know-how. On Friday I met with the programme director of Room for the River, Ingwer de Boer, at his office in Utrecht on the 22nd floor. We discussed our close current and future collaboration. There is some concern about the slow pace of the decision-making in the projects of the Room for the River programme. I will pay attention to this in the DP2013.

On Friday I also visited the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to speak with its director Frits Brouwer and experts about current knowledge regarding the climate and the scenarios we are using in the Delta Programme. These will be updated in the years ahead. 

On Thursday we again met with all the programme directors. Once again, it was a constructive meeting. This time special attention was paid to Rivers and Freshwater sub-programmes.

For me, last week was marked by commemorating the past and making decisions for the future. Remembering the more than 1800 victims and the many families who suffered in the disastrous flood that struck the south-western Netherlands on the night of 31 January and 1 February 1953. I was present at the central commemoration ceremony which I attend every year. It was bitterly cold this year once more. It was also the start of my third year as Delta Commissioner. Commemoration is important to keep incidents from the past from being forgotten and for being able to use the past to work on the future. We are doing this together in the Delta Programme. The National Monument in Ouwerkerk (Schouwen Duiveland) at the impressive Watersnoodmuseum (that attracts over 60,000 visitors a year and was opened by the Queen in 2003) will again be the venue for the commemoration ceremony next year, 60 years after the flood.

The Delta Programme Steering Group met on 2 February. All the directors of the sub-programmes were present as well as those from the “umbrella organisations”, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands (IPO) and the Association of Regional Water Authorities. We had a constructive meeting and marked out the path to the DP2013 with several decisions that point us in the right direction. We made a start on designing the “comparison system” that will later allow us to properly compare and consider the proposals for measures using common criteria. Together, we clearly set down the playing field of the main water system (the controls we can use at the national level). And we discussed the initial outline of the content of the DP2013 that will be presented on Prinsjesdag (the state opening of parliament). Together, we looked back on the high water of last month and the lessons learned. Most useful and those present were very involved.