Three stages in the history of land reclamation in the Netherlands

Abstract

The Netherlands has faced unique water management challenges. Much of the western part of this country is covered by compressible peat or clay soils. Historic land use practices resulted in loss, decay, and consolidation of these soils and subsequent land subsidence. This, along with the sea level rise, tides, and storms, resulted in a country where one-third of the land lies below mean sea level and without dunes, dikes, and pumps, 65% would be under water at high tide. Over many centuries the Dutch have fought against this loss of land. Three stages in the historical development of land drainage and reclamation activities are presented. The first stage was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when many lakes north of Amsterdam were drained and reclaimed for agricultural use. Windmills were used to pump these lakes dry. Next, in the nineteenth century, Lake Haarlem became the largest lake drained in the Netherlands and the one of the first to be drained using steam-powered pumps alone. Finally, in the twentieth century the Zuiderzee tidal estuary was drained and reclaimed, resulting in an additional 1650 km2 of new land for agriculture, recreation, and urban expansion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.