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Flood Risk, Uncertainty And Changing River Protection Policy In The Netherlands: The Case Of ‘Calamity Polders’

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  • DIK ROTH
  • JEROEN WARNER

Abstract

Extreme river discharges, floods and debates about climate change triggered a shift in flood protection policy in the Netherlands from infrastructural to spatial measures. The new policy directive of ‘Room for the River’, details of which were introduced in 2000, should prepare the country for future peak discharges. In order to deal with ‘residual risk’, the concept of ‘calamity polders’ for ‘controlled flooding’ was launched in the same year. In this contribution we discuss the local protests against these plans against the backdrop of changed thinking about flood protection. We analyse the emergence of the concept, the commission established to inquire into the calamity polder plans, as well as local resistance and the counter‐expertise it mobilised. We conclude that the choice to limit public participation in the debates about calamity polders has backfired. It has contributed to the shelving of the plans while increasing public distrust of flood policy. At the same time this episode has created some awareness among policy‐makers of the importance of dialogue with the inhabitants of areas affected by flood policy measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Dik Roth & Jeroen Warner, 2007. "Flood Risk, Uncertainty And Changing River Protection Policy In The Netherlands: The Case Of ‘Calamity Polders’," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 98(4), pages 519-525, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:98:y:2007:i:4:p:519-525
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2007.00419.x
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    Cited by:

    1. C. Dieperink & D. L. T Hegger & M. H. N. Bakker & Z. W. Kundzewicz & C. Green & P. P. J. Driessen, 2016. "Recurrent Governance Challenges in the Implementation and Alignment of Flood Risk Management Strategies: a Review," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(13), pages 4467-4481, October.
    2. Arwin van Buuren & Jeroen Warner, 2014. "From Bypass to Bathtub: Backfiring Policy Labels in Dutch Water Governance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(6), pages 1000-1016, December.
    3. Arjen Zegwaard & Arthur Petersen & Philippus Wester, 2015. "Climate change and ontological politics in the Dutch Delta," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 433-444, October.

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