The picturesque, lush green dikes along the Wadden Sea coast in Friesland are turning yellow and brown due to a lack of rain.
Translation by Traci White
In comments to the Leeuwarder Courant, Frisian water management agency Wetterskip says that the height of some of the sea walls make it difficult for ground water to reach the grass growing on the surface.
The poor grass conditions are posing a challenge for the sheep that graze on the dikes. Farmers are guiding their flocks to spots where there is still green grass to be found. Grazing on dried out grass can cause further damage to the growing conditions: there are bans in place along the Ijssel and the Vecht preventing sheep from eating the grass on the natural water barriers there, but no such ban is yet being considered for the province of Friesland.
There was a recent campaign by water management authorities across the Netherlands to make an exemption for sheep to be allowed to continue grazing on the dikes.
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