Maintenance and inspection of waterways

Wider ditches: must everything be removed?

Inspection ditches must be clean. When carrying out inspections, the water board pays particular attention to the flow in the inspection ditch and whether the storage capacity of the ditch has decreased. In 2026, the water board will review whether certain criteria for cleaning a (inspection) ditch can be adjusted. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact the water board.

Annual inspection in November

In October, we determine the inspection map for the current year. It lists approximately 1,300 kilometers of ditches that we will inspect to assess their state of maintenance. The water board will start the actual inspections at the beginning of November. 
Owners of land along ditches always have a duty to maintain the ditches that belong to their property. This also applies to ditches that are not listed on the inspection map.
If poor maintenance causes problems with water management, the water board can hold you accountable. We are then authorized to enforce maintenance. We can then apply 'administrative coercion'.

Inspection card

Our survey map. Colors on the map Geo.noorderzijlvest.nl/schouwkaart:

• The dark blue waterways are maintained by the water board itself.
• The light blue waterways must be maintained by the adjacent plot owners.
• The red waterways are the ditches that are maintained by adjacent landowners and are inspected in any case (the actual inspection map).

If for any reason you are unable to read the inspection card, please let us know. Send an email to: schouw@noorderzijlvest.nl.
 

Geo.noorderzijlvest.nl/survey map

Who is responsible for maintaining the ditch?

The owner of the ditch is responsible for carrying out maintenance or having it carried out. If it is not entirely clear who the owner is, please note the following points:

• The water board's data on who is responsible for maintenance is binding for the performance of maintenance (or having it performed). The principles for this are set out in the Water Board Regulations (Article 2.7, first paragraph under c, second and third paragraphs, and Appendix 3): Water Board Regulations Noorderzijlvest 2023 | Local laws and regulations
• We use the ownership details as recorded by the Land Registry. It is possible that plots of land and, with them, waterways have changed hands over time. It is possible that a new ownership situation has not been (automatically) reported to the Land Registry. You can take action yourself at the Land Registry.
• The maintenance of a ditch is often a shared responsibility between the adjacent owners. Both are subject to the maintenance obligation. Parties who are designated as responsible for carrying out maintenance are expected to make agreements among themselves about how the maintenance will be carried out. The water board is not involved in this.
• It is common for the municipality to clean the entire ditch along its own land. If the inspection reveals that the ditch is not yet clean, both owners (including the municipality as road administrator) will receive a letter about this. In this case, maintenance is also a joint responsibility.
• You must keep the sloping embankment along a road or ditch on your own side of the property free of vegetation. This also applies to any culvert or bridge in the driveway to your own plot. Here too, the flow must be good.
• In addition to native flora and fauna, there are also invasive aquatic plants that are not native to the Netherlands and cause nuisance. Species such as giant water pennywort must be carefully removed to prevent further spread. For more information on combating and recognizing these plants, see: Invasive exotic species | NVWA.

Inspection has been carried out, but maintenance has not yet been performed.

It is possible that our inspection was carried out before the maintenance was done. At that point, the ditch was formally rejected. We will then send you a letter with that finding. In such cases, we always reassess the maintenance. We do this during a so-called re-inspection. The letter will also state the period in which we will do this.

If you need more time than we indicate in this letter, please contact us by sending an email toschouw@noorderzijlvest.nl. We can then make additional arrangements.

Enforce maintenance

If the maintenance has not been carried out after a re-inspection, you are in violation. In such a case, we can enforce the maintenance.

• We will then apply administrative coercion. We will announce this in a letter.
• You will then still have the opportunity to carry out the maintenance yourself or have it carried out.
• If you do not do this, the water board will have the maintenance carried out.
• The costs thereof shall then be borne by the person(s) responsible for maintenance.
• The water board has this authority under the Water Boards Act, the Environment Act, and the General Administrative Law Act.

The amount charged in this extreme case varies depending on the situation: the General Administrative Law Act states that the costs we incur as a result of applying administrative coercion will be charged. These costs include the costs of the contractor carrying out the work, plus administrative costs and the costs of additional supervision.