3
approximately 700 million
people in 43 countries are
suffering fromwater scarcity.
This is sometimes a passing
problem but, increasingly, it
is a fact of life. And it is only
expected to get worse: as early
as 2025, almost 2 billion people
will be short of water. There
are more and more technical
solutions available, but there
is almost no awareness of
how urgent the need is. That
is because water scarcity is a
creeping process that develops
slowly over the course of many
decades. But waiting on the
sidelines is no longer an option:
water scarcity is just as much a
natural disaster as a tsunami,
earthquake or a typhoon. The
impact is enormous. If nothing is
done, more and more crops will
fail and the price of water will
rise. Basic necessities like food
and water will be beyond the
reach of large groups of people.
Diseases and mortality will rise.
This means that water scarcity is
one of the most urgent problems
now facing society. From page 9
onwards.
DELTARES
IN BRIEF
CREDITS
Delta Life is published by Deltares, an independent
institute for applied research in the field of water,
subsurface and infrastructure. Throughout the
world, we work on smart solutions, innovations
and applications for people, environment and
society. Our main focus is on deltas, coastal
regions and river basins.
For more information:
Editing desk:
P.O. Box 177, 2600 MH Delft,
The Netherlands
tel. +31 (0)88 335 8273
carmen.boersma@
deltares.nl
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be requested or cancelled by
sending an e-mail to
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Deltares and
Maters & Hermsen
Journalistiek
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layout:
Maters & Hermsen
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154189334634001
D
eltares is testing a dike
section of 30 miles on the
Mississippi River, looking
at the failure mechanisms
of piping and macro
stability. Both have a major impact on
dike stability. The pilot project is being
executed with the US Army Corps of
Engineers, the agency that manages
the dike. A similar pilot project is being
prepared for the Huaihe River in China.
Deltares acquired considerable expe
rience during the development of the
Dutch Statutory Assessment Instruments
(WTI) with failure mechanisms. These
instruments are used by the Dutch
agencies that manage primary flood
defences to assess the strength of the
dikes using statutory standards. They are
based on research looking at the loads
on the flood defences and the various
ways dikes can fail. Deltares develops the
assessment standards for the Ministry of
Infrastructure and the Environment.
DELTARES, SEPTEMBER 2014
PHOTO: THINKSTOCK
And also:
3. Deltares in brief
6. Interview with Dale Morris
9. Water scarcity dossier
16. Infographic Green Port
18. How this minuscule particle can
clean up your soil
20. Nature-based engineering in the city
on the rise
22. Testing ground: flow to pumping
station optimised
23. Knowledge in operation: Tsunami Barrier
24. The jellyfish are coming!
26. Make more of the lake
28. Deltares software
29. Deltares organisation
DAM IN KOREA
The Korea Institute of
Construction Technology
(KICT) has decided to use the
DAM (Dike Analyse Module)
software package to assess
dike strength. In South
Korea, there are four large
rivers with many kilometres
of dike.
DAM was originally
developed by Deltares for the
Dutch water management
agencies and it provides
fast information about dike
strength which can also be
used during emergencies.
Following China and the
United States, South Korea
will be the third country
outside the Netherlands
to adopt DAM.
STABILITY TESTING FOR
MISSISSIPPI DIKES
GETTING TOWORK
IN POLAND
There are problems with
navigability on a number
of sections of the Wisla,
Poland's longest river.
In response, the Polish
government has asked the
Dutch consortium, which
includes Deltares, to look at
improving the navigability
of the Wisla. Particularly
in the vicinity of Warsaw,
vessels with large draughts
cannot use the river and
so commercial shipping
is no longer possible. The
consortiumwill develop an
integrated approach for the
area between Warsaw and
Gdansk, emphasising flood
protection, hydrology and
spatial planning.
