Water management and SEA in the Netherlands

Pieter Jongejans, NCEASeptember 24, 2013

Contents1. Water management in The Netherlands2. SEA for water management plans:

National Water Plan

Regional Water management Plans

Room for the Rivers

3. Lessons learned

Naam spreker, Titel presentatie of onderwerp , datum van de presentatie, plaats 2

Watermanagement in the NetherlandsNational (Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment)

National Waterplan (strategic, long term)

River bassin management plans (Rhine, Meuse, Scheldt, Ems)

Provincial governments

Provincial waterplans (strategic)

Waterboards Water management plans (operational)+ “Watertest”

Municipalities Municipal plans (operational)

Watermanagement in the Netherlands

Watermanagement plans

SEA for watermanagement plan?• required if:

– sets the framework for developments with environmental impact

– impact on (heavily) protected areas (Natura 2000, EU-guidelines)

• objectives: – to make better, more environmentally sound and

sustainable planning decisions– to strengthen planning process– to raise commitment

Examples of SEA for waterplans1. National Waterplan

• National strategic framework for water themes2. Regional Water Management Plans

• Regional policy on water themes3. Room for the Rivers

• National programme for water safety measures along Rhine river branches (thematical)

• Elaboration of National policy

National Water Plan: Themes and areas

• Flood safety (coastal safety)• Water shortage & freshwater supply• Flooding/waterlogging• Water quality• Use of water

short-term (2015) and long-term (2100)

Selecting topics for SEA

Example: Safety of IJsselmeer and fresh water supply

Starting pointSafety (winter):• Increase of discharge River IJssel • Rising sea level• Natural water drainage limited

Fresh water supply (summer):• Decrease of fresh water supply• Increase of evaporation• Increase of fresh water demand (nature,

drinking water, industry, farming)

Strategic alternatives (long term)Safety of IJsselmeer and fresh water supply

Results of SEA for NWP• SEA started after Draft NWP was already

produced• Short-term decisions:

– no significant changes from the Draft NWP• Long-term decisions:

– no formal decisions, but directions for further exploration and decision-making

Regional water management plans

• Flooding (water storage, dykes)• Waterquality (chemical, ecological)• Groundwater (use)

Context and objectives regional water plans

• Implementation of European Water Framework Directive (water quality)

• Implementation of National policies (National Waterplan, spatial planning, policy on climate change, nature conservation)

• Coordination and cooperation between different water management bodies and other stakeholders: “spatial planning processes”

SEA for regional water management plans

• SEA applied for some regional plans (50%)• SEA not fully integrated in planning process• Many decisions already made as a result of

spatial planning process with stakeholders• No real strategic alternatives; looking for

dilemmas, opportunities and risks

Results of SEA for regional plans• Most choices were already made; no real

alternatives• Environmental impact often positive• Resulting in minor adjustment of planned

measures (exception Fryslan)• Points of attention for further elaboration of

measures

Room for the rivers (2005)

Starting point Room for the Rivers• Increased level of flood protection needed• Changing view on flood protection: creating

more space in the river foreland, rather than reinforcing dikes

Objectives:• Higher outlet capacity for the Rhine branches• Improve the quality of the environment of the

river basin

Alternatives Room for the Rivers

• Types of measures:

Alternatives Room for the Rivers• Reference: meeting safety objective, solely through

strengthening and improving the existing dikes

• Alternative 1: Focus on technical measures for safety, e.g. removal of obstacles in the river foreland, less emphasis on spatial and environmental quality

• Alternative 2: Focus on combination safety and spatial and environmental quality, e.g. creation of retention ponds

• Preferred alternative: added on the basis of a first assessment, combination of best scoring measures of both alternatives.

Results SEA for Room for the Rivers• SEA has significantly influenced the finally

adopted plan • environmental issues were taken fully into

consideration• open and participative SEA/planning process:

more support• fundament for elaboration of 40 measures

along rivers

Different ways of applying SEA• National Waterplan: Themes and areas,

comparing alternatives on selected topics (decisions)

• Regional water plans: Integral packages of measures; comparing alternatives on (minor) adjustments

• Room for the Rivers: Comparing different strategies (integral packages of measures) as alternatives

Evaluation NWP and regional plans (2010)• SEA started late in the planning process, which left

limited room for alternatives• Cooperation between different levels of

watermanagement bodies and stakeholders produced added value

• Recommendation: start SEA earlier in the planning process, before policy decisions have been made: – risks and opportunities are identified at an early stage– objective and public information for stakeholders and decision

makers– information on the level of support for decisions, early on in the

planning process

Deltaprogramme and next NWP• 2015: new generation of water management plans

(2016-2021)• 2011-2015: “Delta decisions”:

– Analysis of tasks (2011)– Possible strategies (2012)– Preferred strategies (2013)– Delta proposals/decisions (2014)– 2nd National Waterplan (2015)

• SEA approach used in Delta programme

• Regional plans: spatial planning processes starting end of this year

General conclusions• SEA has been useful to explore possible

directions, make more environmentally sound decisions and account for choices

• If SEA is not integrated in the planning process, its value is limited

• Starting SEA early helps to identify opportunities (better solutions) and risks early

• Open and participative SEA/planning process will lead to more support for decisions