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DELTARES, SEPTEMBER 2014
DELTARES
IN BRIEF
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Deltares has been building a scale
model of the new sea sluice in IJmuiden
in recent months for Rijkswaterstaat.
Marin supplied the shipmodel.
The scalemodel will be used to study
the forces on the sluice and the effect of
salt and fresh water. The scalemodel,
including the sluice chamber and the
entrances, is approximately 56metres
long in total and 20metres wide.
The new sea sluice in IJmuiden will be
one of the largest in the world, with
chambers more than 500metres long
that can accommodate ever-larger
ocean-going vessels. It is expected to
go operational in 2019.
Together with nineteen African and European
institutes, Deltares developed a new system
for predicting meteorological, hydrological
and agricultural drought in Africa. The
DEWFORA project (Drought Early Warning
and Forecasting) was launched in 2011,
recently reaching completion. Deltares
coordinated the project.
Drought has a major impact in Africa and
expectations are that the drought problem will
worsen as a result of climate change. There
are various drought forecasting systems in
place in Africa but the warnings they produce
are often too late and not always as accurate
as they might be. In addition, they often don't
reach the intended users and therefore fail to
produce the required response, with all the
harm that entails. The DEWFORA solutions
will make it possible to predict drought more
reliably and see it coming earlier. This will
allow the people involved to take targeted
action faster.
European waters are under pressure.
Quality goals are not being achieved and
freshwater supplies are uncertain. How
can improvements be made? To answer
this question, the European MARS project
(Managing Aquatic ecosystems and
water Resources under multiple Stress)
was launched recently.
The cause of the present predicament
is known: multiple stressors. Combina
tions of factors such as climate change,
drinking water extraction, extraction for
irrigation, contamination, and falls in the
availability of fresh groundwater lead to
a decline in the status of groundwater,
streams and rivers.
Water managers are looking for
promising ways of tackling multiple
stressors. MARS was launched to
understand and predict the impact of
stressors on the water system and the
ecology. It will develop practical tools that
managers can use to restore stressed
surface waters and groundwater, and
support policy makers to draft and
implement water policies.
MARS is being conducted for the
European Commission and it will take
four years. Deltares will be working
together with twenty-three other
research institutes.
Colombia wants to prepare its water system properly for climate change in the future and it is working
on a National Adaptation Plan. It describes the steps that need to be taken to ensure that the water
system can cope adequately with the consequences of climate change such as extreme rainfall. They
will be based on the ‘adaptation tipping point analysis’ developed by Deltares that determines when
the climate will change to such an extent that policy or management practices require adjustments,
changes or a radical overhaul. In this way, policymakers can make a sound appraisal of the urgency of
investments for the long term.
IMPROVED
DROUGHT
FORECASTING
FOR
AFRICA
Deltares is a partner in
two of the six winning
consortiums that
will improve storm
defences in New York.
The consortiums will
be responsible for the
‘New Meadowlands’
project near Little
Ferry in New Jersey and
‘Living with the Bay’ in
Nassau County on Long
Island. The competition
‘Rebuild by Design’
was organised by the
American government
after Hurricane Sandy in
the autumn of 2012.
New Meadowlands
will create an area
measuring 80 km² that
will protect the New York-
New Jersey metropolitan
region from future floods.
New Meadowlands is,
like the Netherlands, a
low-lying area, and so
typically Dutch solutions
can be used. The safety
approach is based on
the latest Dutch insights,
with the emphasis on
‘nature-based flood
defence’, using nature to
improve flood defences.
‘Living with the Bay' will
implement solutions for
the Nassau County area
on Long Island in New
York. The upgrading
of the Nassau County
coastal area will also
focus on the use of ‘soft’
infrastructure.
COLOMBIA
PREPARES FOR
CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CHANGE
AND INFRASTRUCTURE
What impact do new weather patterns such as extreme rainfall or extreme heat
have on infrastructure? And, more importantly, will vital infrastructure remain
intact? This is the focus of research in the European INTACT project (‘Impact of
Extreme Weather on Critical Infrastructure’), which started recently. Extreme
weather can have a negative impact on the management and maintenance of
roads, bridges and tunnels, and on user safety, and also cause economic damage
when structures are shut down. Deltares is leading the sub-project with case studies
looking at extreme snowfall (Finland), heat waves and drought (Spain), extreme
rainfall and landslides (Italy), and flooding and excess water (Ireland and the
Netherlands). The Dutch case focuses on the harbour of Rotterdam and the links
with the hinterland by road, waterways, railways and pipelines. Weather and
impact models are being used to study the effect of the weather on infrastructure.
KNOWLEDGE
PARTNER FOR
NEW YORK
FLOOD
PROTECTION
IMPROVED
MANAGEMENT
FOR
EUROPEAN
WATERS
SCALE MODEL
SEA SLUICE
IJMUIDEN
PHOTO: ANP
