The extremely rainy weather in recent weeks has nearly restored the ground water levels to normal following a historically long drought over the summer, but so much rain falling in such a short period has also caused minor issues across the north.
RTV Noord reports that weeks of stormy and rainy weather have helped to restore ground water to levels prior to the prolonged drought over the summer. Water had been pumped inland from the IJsselmeer. In the province of Groningen, many canals and ditches are much higher than usual, and large puddles have formed in fields and pastures.
According to hydrologist Harry Jager, 100 millimeters of rain have fallen over the past two weeks, and more rain is in the forecast for this weekend. On average, the Netherlands has up to 850 millimeters of rainfall over the course of an entire year.
In Friesland, flood locks at Goingarijp, Broek, Joure and Lange Sloot were closed due to water levels being 10 centimeters above normal levels from a combination of the rain and wind. Omrop Fryslân writes that Steam Pumping Stations Wouda and De Heining were running at full capacity to keep the water levels in check.
Hein de Jong from Waterboard Friesland says that the rain is welcome, but so much falling over such a short period means that much of it cannot be soaked up due to the ground already being saturated. De Jong says that Friesland should have a better idea of its water levels next week.
Meanwhile, in Drenthe, the continued wet weather meant that when a hole opened in an earthen irrigation ditch, a section of the N34 was flooded on Friday. RTV Drenthe reports that it not yet clear what caused the hole to appear, but the opening was set to be repaired with clay from Delfzijl on Friday afternoon and the roadway has already been cleared.
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