such as the water authorities, have much more flexibility to take over the task of
drought resilience improvement. Nevertheless, also in their case the capability to
enforce resilience measures is restricted to a voluntary approach, partly because of
limited legal possibilities, partly because of lack of political support for coercive
action outside emergency periods.
9.5 A Tale of Preserving Voluntary Action and Upscaling
Nonetheless: Conclusions and Recommendations
for the Region Twente
The conclusions and specific recommendations below are partially based on
comparing the Vechtstromen context with Governance Team members’ knowledge
of other water management systems, including a comparative analysis with the
other regions studied in DROP. We will concentrate on the preventive measures for
increasing drought resilience that are central stage in the most vulnerable areas of
Vechtstromen like the northeast of Twente.
9.5.1 Overall Conclusion
Nationally the recognition of the problem is still at an early phase and a water
supply orientation is still dominant. Against this background there is only legitimacy for soft voluntary approaches to prevention policies and measures. Partly this
approach is also rooted in the general Dutch consensual political culture (the
so-called “polder model”). This forms a setting in which building and using
well-functioning partnerships with as many stakeholders as possible, both allies and
potential opponents, is the best way to make the most of the situation and create the
best likelihood of success. We observe that the project managers of the water
authority understand this very well and are doing a good job at realizing it this way.
9.5.2 Awareness and Public Agenda
Drought and fresh water shortages being still a low profile issue has the disadvantage that financial and political support for preventive measures to increase
drought resilience is limited and the relative priority of such measures is weak when
they compete with other objectives. A background is that the most populated parts
of the Netherlands have an artificial water system that allows to manage water
levels to prevent droughts by bringing water from other areas. On top of that water
scarcity is often related to the prevention of saltwater intrusion by using large
quantities of freshwater to flush these artificial waterways. All of this makes the
9 The Fragmentation-Coherence Paradox in Twente
199
drought resilience improvement. Nevertheless, also in their case the capability to
enforce resilience measures is restricted to a voluntary approach, partly because of
limited legal possibilities, partly because of lack of political support for coercive
action outside emergency periods.
9.5 A Tale of Preserving Voluntary Action and Upscaling
Nonetheless: Conclusions and Recommendations
for the Region Twente
The conclusions and specific recommendations below are partially based on
comparing the Vechtstromen context with Governance Team members’ knowledge
of other water management systems, including a comparative analysis with the
other regions studied in DROP. We will concentrate on the preventive measures for
increasing drought resilience that are central stage in the most vulnerable areas of
Vechtstromen like the northeast of Twente.
9.5.1 Overall Conclusion
Nationally the recognition of the problem is still at an early phase and a water
supply orientation is still dominant. Against this background there is only legitimacy for soft voluntary approaches to prevention policies and measures. Partly this
approach is also rooted in the general Dutch consensual political culture (the
so-called “polder model”). This forms a setting in which building and using
well-functioning partnerships with as many stakeholders as possible, both allies and
potential opponents, is the best way to make the most of the situation and create the
best likelihood of success. We observe that the project managers of the water
authority understand this very well and are doing a good job at realizing it this way.
9.5.2 Awareness and Public Agenda
Drought and fresh water shortages being still a low profile issue has the disadvantage that financial and political support for preventive measures to increase
drought resilience is limited and the relative priority of such measures is weak when
they compete with other objectives. A background is that the most populated parts
of the Netherlands have an artificial water system that allows to manage water
levels to prevent droughts by bringing water from other areas. On top of that water
scarcity is often related to the prevention of saltwater intrusion by using large
quantities of freshwater to flush these artificial waterways. All of this makes the
9 The Fragmentation-Coherence Paradox in Twente
199