inevitable to have disagreements regarding how to allocate the limited water resources
to different uses and services. For instance, water extractions threaten the
groundwater-sensitive nature areas. As a result, water authorities, farmer organizations
and drinking water companies take different sides than the NCOs. The “Agriculture on
Sight” (Landbouw op Peil) project, which was started in 2011 by the water authorities
and LTO, constitutes a positive example. This project involves individual farmers and
aims to increase their awareness regarding the soil and water in their farm. According to
an LTO representative, the project is changing the relationship between farmers and the
water authority, who became more communicative and collaborative. The increasing
cooperation requirements, for instance to implement the Natura 2000, is expected to
create more initiatives similar to Landbouw op Peil.
Problem perceptions and goal ambitions are also neutral in terms of their
coherence. The water authorities and the NMO have different perspectives on how
the water system works and should work. On the one hand, the NMO sees the
management of the water system leaning towards the interests of agriculture and not
sufficiently protecting nature areas. On the other hand, the water authorities perceive the NMO as having strict positions on nature conservation and difficult to
work with. This low coherence between economic and environmental goals seems
to get higher as the irrigation policy takes into account the water needs of nature
areas and limits irrigation around those areas. Furthermore, before the adoption of
the irrigation policy, the situation regarding the extraction of irrigation water during
drought, water shortage or calamities was not clear for farmers that live at the
borders of water authorities and have land at more than one water authority. There
are also differences in the perception of the urgency with which the issue of drought
needs to be addressed, particularly between the water authorities and the NMO.
Strategies and instruments is the only restrictive dimension regarding coherence.
The national Delta Programme was initiated mainly for solving the water management and security problems in the Netherlands. However, so far the different
and conflicting priorities of the eastern and western regions of the country haven’t
been fully incorporated. Despite its apparent emphasis on freshwater supply, the
ZON project addresses drought and potential measures. Permit is the main instrument regarding the regulation of water use; so its coherence with other instruments
is relevant. The water authorities do not know which notifications were given in the
protection zones. However, the irrigation policy will apply only to getting permits
for new wells, not the existing wells. Even if it could be applied, the water
authorities would have to pay to the farmers to move them out of the zone and
render the permits unusable or the notifications invalid. Such a situation can also
arise when Nature 2000 measures are implemented, since the province might have
to pay to buy out the land around the protection zones.
The coherence of responsibilities and resources is neutral. Each actor has some
responsibility regarding certain elements of the water system. However, it is unclear
whether an actor holds the responsibility to connect all the knowledge regarding
different aspects and has an overview of the water situation and the water balance. This
can be explained by the very nature of water management in the Netherlands, which
attributes more value to involving stakeholders from all levels and sectors, who have
170
G. Özerol et al.
to different uses and services. For instance, water extractions threaten the
groundwater-sensitive nature areas. As a result, water authorities, farmer organizations
and drinking water companies take different sides than the NCOs. The “Agriculture on
Sight” (Landbouw op Peil) project, which was started in 2011 by the water authorities
and LTO, constitutes a positive example. This project involves individual farmers and
aims to increase their awareness regarding the soil and water in their farm. According to
an LTO representative, the project is changing the relationship between farmers and the
water authority, who became more communicative and collaborative. The increasing
cooperation requirements, for instance to implement the Natura 2000, is expected to
create more initiatives similar to Landbouw op Peil.
Problem perceptions and goal ambitions are also neutral in terms of their
coherence. The water authorities and the NMO have different perspectives on how
the water system works and should work. On the one hand, the NMO sees the
management of the water system leaning towards the interests of agriculture and not
sufficiently protecting nature areas. On the other hand, the water authorities perceive the NMO as having strict positions on nature conservation and difficult to
work with. This low coherence between economic and environmental goals seems
to get higher as the irrigation policy takes into account the water needs of nature
areas and limits irrigation around those areas. Furthermore, before the adoption of
the irrigation policy, the situation regarding the extraction of irrigation water during
drought, water shortage or calamities was not clear for farmers that live at the
borders of water authorities and have land at more than one water authority. There
are also differences in the perception of the urgency with which the issue of drought
needs to be addressed, particularly between the water authorities and the NMO.
Strategies and instruments is the only restrictive dimension regarding coherence.
The national Delta Programme was initiated mainly for solving the water management and security problems in the Netherlands. However, so far the different
and conflicting priorities of the eastern and western regions of the country haven’t
been fully incorporated. Despite its apparent emphasis on freshwater supply, the
ZON project addresses drought and potential measures. Permit is the main instrument regarding the regulation of water use; so its coherence with other instruments
is relevant. The water authorities do not know which notifications were given in the
protection zones. However, the irrigation policy will apply only to getting permits
for new wells, not the existing wells. Even if it could be applied, the water
authorities would have to pay to the farmers to move them out of the zone and
render the permits unusable or the notifications invalid. Such a situation can also
arise when Nature 2000 measures are implemented, since the province might have
to pay to buy out the land around the protection zones.
The coherence of responsibilities and resources is neutral. Each actor has some
responsibility regarding certain elements of the water system. However, it is unclear
whether an actor holds the responsibility to connect all the knowledge regarding
different aspects and has an overview of the water situation and the water balance. This
can be explained by the very nature of water management in the Netherlands, which
attributes more value to involving stakeholders from all levels and sectors, who have
170
G. Özerol et al.