Large amounts of rainfall in the last week have seen the current pump system nearly become overwhelmed
Translated by Thomas Ansell
The head of the Frisian water board (Wetterskip Fryslân), Jan van Weperen, says that “strong investment” is needed in the Provinces’ water management systems to make Friesland climate-change resistant. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân, the comments come after a week of heavy rainfall threatened to overwhelm parts of the Province.
With the climate getting warmer and warmer, large part of Northern Europe will have to deal with sudden, intense rainfall more often than at the moment. This is because warmer air can hold more water droplets, and once that rain descends it is up to the water board to pump it out of places it shouldn’t be or are flooded.
“We haven’t had this much rainfall for decades”, says Van Weperen, “and there’s no system that can be properly prepared for this.” Aside from the usual pumping stations, the organisation had to send 14 emergency pumps to remove standing water from around Friesland.
In the coming weeks, the Wetterskip will begin a series of conversations and studies into how it should react to make the Province climate-resistant. Van Weperen doesn’t know how much extra money will be required, or if the water systems tax (waterschapsbelasting) will have to rise to cover costs.
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