By Robert Pirani, Director for Environmental Programs
When Henry Hudson sailed from Amsterdam harbor almost exactly 400 years ago (he left April 3rd 1609), he left a country built on water - literally as well as politically. Water is still a foundation for Dutch planning decisions. As I learned on a recent trip sponsored by the Netherlands Water Partnership, they even have a name for this relationship: Living With the Water. With a changing climate and competing waterfront uses posing important challenges on this side of the Atlantic, Living With the Water is a philosophy well worth exploring.
Located on the delta of the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers, the medieval Netherlands were filled with peat bogs, tidal marshes, and shallow waters. The locals made a practice of re-naturing this landscape. Re-naturing is relatively new term for an old practice: restructuring and nurturing of landscapes for new values and purposes. For the Dutch, this meant enclosing the wetlands with dikes, building ditches and windmills to collect the water and pump it back to the sea, and undergoing seasons of special plantings to pull the salt from the soil. On they went, and today, about 27% of the land and 60% of the population are below sea level.
This poldering, meaning creating usable land from marshes or seas, is inherently a collective activity; the fate of a linked set of "polders" being no stronger than the weakest dike. Starting in the 15th century, about 100 years before the formation of the Dutch Republic, the people of the Netherlands were creating democratic authorities to manage their water resources. So perhaps it is not surprising that water management continues be a celebrated part of their culture and a vital part of their planning decisions.
Protecting the cities, villages, and farms that can be more than 20 feet below sea level continues to be a driving concern. Dutch planners and engineers design to the "10,000-year storm" (flood conditions that are likely to occur once every 10,000 years). In contrast, their American counterparts are asked only to protect for a storm that will occur once every 100 years. As a result, the Netherlands have invested fiscally in physical storm barriers, like the massive tide gate protecting Rotterdam's port, and politically in a national Delta Commission. This Commission has put forward a comprehensive plan of governance reform, land-use regulations and hard infrastructure to address the coming challenge of climate change.
The integration of land-use planning and water management are present in other ways as well. Canals and rivers cross the country, and towns and cities - even those far inland - have an active waterfront with commercial and recreational boating right in their heart. A policy of creating "Room for the River" is allowing the flood waters of the Rhine, Meuse, and smaller rivers to safely overflow their banks. Rotterdam has ambitious proposals to retain storm water in green roofs and water plazas. "Cradle to Cradle Islands" in the North Sea are testing new technologies for water reuse and decentralized treatment technology.
Can these innovative Dutch solutions be applied on this side of the Atlantic? Certainly the need is here. The harbor that greeted Henry Hudson has changed substantially since 1609. We too have filled in wetlands and shallow waters (of the 100 square miles of tidelands that once fringed New York Harbor, only 14 remain), threatening our fisheries and sea life. This made land, which underlies vital places like lower Manhattan, Jersey City, and our air and sea ports, is all less than 10 feet above sea level, and vulnerable to the nor'easters and hurricanes which strike our shore with increasing regularity. Indeed the New York City Panel on Climate Change recently released a report that projects a 7 - 12 inch sea level rise by 2050, and forecasts that the once-in-a-hundred-year storm capable of 10-foot-storm surges will reoccur once every 35 to 50 years. The Panel also predicts increased periods of drought and extreme rain events, exacerbating current water supply shortages and combined sewer overflow problems.
The good news is that there are a number of recent initiatives aimed at raising awareness and bringing consensus around these issues. Over the next year, the City's Climate Change Adaptation Task Force will be issuing its recommendations, as will a New York State Sea Level Rise Task Force. The American Society of Civil Engineers and the New York Academy of Sciences are sponsoring a two-day conference this week on whether New York Harbor should consider a storm surge barrier. And in September, the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, and Liberty Science Center will co-sponsor the H209 Water Forum, where business leaders, scientists, and government representatives will discuss solutions to water challenges that face cities around the world.
Can New York and the Region learn to Live With the Water? It's clear that we will have to. The only question is whether our interaction will be a happy one.
When Henry Hudson sailed from Amsterdam harbor almost exactly 400 years ago (he left April 3rd 1609), he left a country built on water - literally as well as politically. Water is still a foundation for Dutch planning decisions. As I learned on a recent trip sponsored by the Netherlands Water Partnership, they even have a name for this relationship: Living With the Water. With a changing climate and competing waterfront uses posing important challenges on this side of the Atlantic, Living With the Water is a philosophy well worth exploring.
Located on the delta of the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers, the medieval Netherlands were filled with peat bogs, tidal marshes, and shallow waters. The locals made a practice of re-naturing this landscape. Re-naturing is relatively new term for an old practice: restructuring and nurturing of landscapes for new values and purposes. For the Dutch, this meant enclosing the wetlands with dikes, building ditches and windmills to collect the water and pump it back to the sea, and undergoing seasons of special plantings to pull the salt from the soil. On they went, and today, about 27% of the land and 60% of the population are below sea level.
This poldering, meaning creating usable land from marshes or seas, is inherently a collective activity; the fate of a linked set of "polders" being no stronger than the weakest dike. Starting in the 15th century, about 100 years before the formation of the Dutch Republic, the people of the Netherlands were creating democratic authorities to manage their water resources. So perhaps it is not surprising that water management continues be a celebrated part of their culture and a vital part of their planning decisions.
Protecting the cities, villages, and farms that can be more than 20 feet below sea level continues to be a driving concern. Dutch planners and engineers design to the "10,000-year storm" (flood conditions that are likely to occur once every 10,000 years). In contrast, their American counterparts are asked only to protect for a storm that will occur once every 100 years. As a result, the Netherlands have invested fiscally in physical storm barriers, like the massive tide gate protecting Rotterdam's port, and politically in a national Delta Commission. This Commission has put forward a comprehensive plan of governance reform, land-use regulations and hard infrastructure to address the coming challenge of climate change.
The integration of land-use planning and water management are present in other ways as well. Canals and rivers cross the country, and towns and cities - even those far inland - have an active waterfront with commercial and recreational boating right in their heart. A policy of creating "Room for the River" is allowing the flood waters of the Rhine, Meuse, and smaller rivers to safely overflow their banks. Rotterdam has ambitious proposals to retain storm water in green roofs and water plazas. "Cradle to Cradle Islands" in the North Sea are testing new technologies for water reuse and decentralized treatment technology.
Can these innovative Dutch solutions be applied on this side of the Atlantic? Certainly the need is here. The harbor that greeted Henry Hudson has changed substantially since 1609. We too have filled in wetlands and shallow waters (of the 100 square miles of tidelands that once fringed New York Harbor, only 14 remain), threatening our fisheries and sea life. This made land, which underlies vital places like lower Manhattan, Jersey City, and our air and sea ports, is all less than 10 feet above sea level, and vulnerable to the nor'easters and hurricanes which strike our shore with increasing regularity. Indeed the New York City Panel on Climate Change recently released a report that projects a 7 - 12 inch sea level rise by 2050, and forecasts that the once-in-a-hundred-year storm capable of 10-foot-storm surges will reoccur once every 35 to 50 years. The Panel also predicts increased periods of drought and extreme rain events, exacerbating current water supply shortages and combined sewer overflow problems.
The good news is that there are a number of recent initiatives aimed at raising awareness and bringing consensus around these issues. Over the next year, the City's Climate Change Adaptation Task Force will be issuing its recommendations, as will a New York State Sea Level Rise Task Force. The American Society of Civil Engineers and the New York Academy of Sciences are sponsoring a two-day conference this week on whether New York Harbor should consider a storm surge barrier. And in September, the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, and Liberty Science Center will co-sponsor the H209 Water Forum, where business leaders, scientists, and government representatives will discuss solutions to water challenges that face cities around the world.
Can New York and the Region learn to Live With the Water? It's clear that we will have to. The only question is whether our interaction will be a happy one.
@RegionalPlan