good relations among the water authorities creates additional impetus regarding the
enforcement of the irrigation policy. The regional approach is also reflected in the
ZON declaration, which states that all parties in the East of the Netherlands will be
responsible to optimise the availability and use of freshwater and to make efforts for
decreasing the sensitivity of the region to extreme weather conditions.
A neutral degree of intensity is observed regarding the actors and networks.
Drought is a priority issue for the five water authorities in order to cooperate at the
regional level, so they communicate to find points of cooperation. Other actors,
however, assign different levels of priority for several reasons. NMO cannot allocate time to projects on water since it has very limited financial and human
resources. As a result, NMO cannot be proactive in terms of participation, but rather
responds to the requests of the water authorities. The province has recently changed
its approach to water projects. Since they have ongoing tasks and want to interfere
in different policies in several sectors, they integrated water into the spatial planning
sector. While they previously had a water team of 20 people, since 2012 they have a
diverse team of 70 members. Finally, the LTO makes efforts to get involved in
projects, although they lack the technical knowledge.
The problem perceptions and goal ambitions is the only restrictive dimension
regarding intensity. The dilemma between putting the water away to prevent flood
and letting it in the system to prevent drought is felt commonly by the practitioners.
Furthermore discharging the excessive water is crucial, since getting the water out
is more difficult than getting it in. Farmers also have higher priority for floods than
droughts; they are worried when their fields are wet or when the groundwater is
high, not when the land is dry. Nevertheless, drought constitutes a threat for
agriculture due to the need for irrigation. Therefore, measures are taken to prevent
farmers from facing water shortages. Furthermore, there is a national agreement that
water from the rivers can be transferred from other regions. However, the water
authorities differ in terms of the practicality and costs of transferring water. Another
relevant issue is monitoring of water withdrawals. Until recently, there was no
up-to-date data on the existing pumps, and thus no accurate information on where
and how much water is being pumped. The provinces and water authorities use a
national database to register the water users and update it once a year. But farmers
usually do not comply with that rule and the water authorities do not regularly
monitor the compliance, either. Water authorities need these data to manage the
water flows and to monitor groundwater use. In case of water shortages, formally
every farmer has to stop irrigation; otherwise, they will be misusing the water. This
creates a kind of guarantee that not too much water will be withdrawn.
A neutral degree of intensity is observed regarding strategies and instruments.
The intensity of strategies is increasing in terms of data management on water use.
The database that the water authorities have is not reliable at the farm level, since
the farmers did not provide the exact level of extraction; neither did the water
authorities measure it. In order to update the database and to identify the unregistered wells, the water authorities made a survey with the farmers that have a land
in the buffer zones or next to nature areas. On the other hand, a low level of
intensity is observed regarding the irrigation policy, since it applies only to new
8 Drought Awareness Through Agricultural Policy: Multi-level …
173
enforcement of the irrigation policy. The regional approach is also reflected in the
ZON declaration, which states that all parties in the East of the Netherlands will be
responsible to optimise the availability and use of freshwater and to make efforts for
decreasing the sensitivity of the region to extreme weather conditions.
A neutral degree of intensity is observed regarding the actors and networks.
Drought is a priority issue for the five water authorities in order to cooperate at the
regional level, so they communicate to find points of cooperation. Other actors,
however, assign different levels of priority for several reasons. NMO cannot allocate time to projects on water since it has very limited financial and human
resources. As a result, NMO cannot be proactive in terms of participation, but rather
responds to the requests of the water authorities. The province has recently changed
its approach to water projects. Since they have ongoing tasks and want to interfere
in different policies in several sectors, they integrated water into the spatial planning
sector. While they previously had a water team of 20 people, since 2012 they have a
diverse team of 70 members. Finally, the LTO makes efforts to get involved in
projects, although they lack the technical knowledge.
The problem perceptions and goal ambitions is the only restrictive dimension
regarding intensity. The dilemma between putting the water away to prevent flood
and letting it in the system to prevent drought is felt commonly by the practitioners.
Furthermore discharging the excessive water is crucial, since getting the water out
is more difficult than getting it in. Farmers also have higher priority for floods than
droughts; they are worried when their fields are wet or when the groundwater is
high, not when the land is dry. Nevertheless, drought constitutes a threat for
agriculture due to the need for irrigation. Therefore, measures are taken to prevent
farmers from facing water shortages. Furthermore, there is a national agreement that
water from the rivers can be transferred from other regions. However, the water
authorities differ in terms of the practicality and costs of transferring water. Another
relevant issue is monitoring of water withdrawals. Until recently, there was no
up-to-date data on the existing pumps, and thus no accurate information on where
and how much water is being pumped. The provinces and water authorities use a
national database to register the water users and update it once a year. But farmers
usually do not comply with that rule and the water authorities do not regularly
monitor the compliance, either. Water authorities need these data to manage the
water flows and to monitor groundwater use. In case of water shortages, formally
every farmer has to stop irrigation; otherwise, they will be misusing the water. This
creates a kind of guarantee that not too much water will be withdrawn.
A neutral degree of intensity is observed regarding strategies and instruments.
The intensity of strategies is increasing in terms of data management on water use.
The database that the water authorities have is not reliable at the farm level, since
the farmers did not provide the exact level of extraction; neither did the water
authorities measure it. In order to update the database and to identify the unregistered wells, the water authorities made a survey with the farmers that have a land
in the buffer zones or next to nature areas. On the other hand, a low level of
intensity is observed regarding the irrigation policy, since it applies only to new
8 Drought Awareness Through Agricultural Policy: Multi-level …
173