Looking back and looking ahead Elze Reitsema

What kind of year was 2024?

What have we done in 2024 to ensure clean and healthy water?

In hindsight, what would you have done differently?

What kind of year will 2025 be?

What do you think is important for our residents to know?

Working alone and quickly, or together and thoroughly?

What are you looking forward to in 2025?

“We shouldn't point fingers at each other and sweep our own streets clean. We need to do that together and work on it together.” 

That is what Elze Reitsema says about the connection between residents and the water board. He believes that when residents are offered a perspective, they will achieve great results in various projects together with the water board in the coming years.

Elze Reitsema was appointed as a member of the executive committee of the Noorderzijlvest Water Authority in September 2024. Since 2016, he has been involved with the Water Natuurlijk Noorderzijlvest political group, first as a member of the general board and later as group chair. Today, he looks back on his first few months as a member of the executive committee and looks ahead to the plans for 2025.

Looking back on 2024: I get a lot of energy from how everyone works with such knowledge and passion.

Reitsema describes 2024 as a great year. "I have now been working as a daily manager for almost six months. That is a completely different role from being a general board member and gives me a completely different perspective on what is happening." He enjoys being much more involved in the content and having experienced so much in such a short time. "I get a lot of energy from everyone who works here with all their passion and knowledge. It is simply a huge privilege to be able to do this."

He believes that this work has enabled the water board to achieve a great deal in the past year in terms of clean and healthy water. "We have drawn up an integrated program, which we will present to the general board in February." The program consists of measures for the Water Framework Directive. The aim of this directive is to have clean water without waste and good water quality by 2027. 

Paterswoldsemeer: long-term project for clean and healthy water and the surrounding area 

But the water board does more than just follow these measures. For example, it has secured a subsidy from the province of Drenthe to further improve water quality there. "But I am most proud of the completion of the Paterswoldsemeer," says Reitsema. This marks the completion of a long-term project. "The Paterswoldsemeer is an extremely important project for the city and its surroundings, but also for us as a water board. We have learned a great deal there about working together with the local community. We can be very proud of that."

So what exactly did the water board do at Paterswoldsemeer? “We took a whole range of measures in consultation with the local community. So it’s actually a compliment to the community that we were able to work together so well on this.” One of these measures is to let different water into the lake. "That water now comes from the Drentse Aa area and no longer from the Noord-Willemskanaal. This water contains fewer nutrients." This is good, because an excess of nutrients can lead to oxygen depletion in the water and algae growth, which can produce toxic substances. 

“We also constructed an iron sand basin,” Reitsema continues. “This allows us to further purify the water that enters via the lock.” In addition, nature-friendly banks have been constructed: “Fish shelters, fish forests under jetties. Good opportunities for fish migration upstream along the weir. In short, many wonderful things have happened.”

Discussion needed: Do the things we do really contribute to what we say they do?

According to Reitsema, the water board will also have learned a lot by 2024. "We have had a lot of discussion about the new code of conduct. That concerns how we should carry out our maintenance." The water board has spent a long time on this in various discussions with the ministry. According to Reitsema, this is unique for a water board. It wants to carry out certain maintenance in a very careful manner, for the benefit of flora and fauna. But it is difficult to lay this down in law, and there has been a lot of discussion about this, he says. "We have learned that we can do more when it comes to measuring and monitoring. Do the things we do really contribute to what we say they do?

He will take steps in this direction in 2025, when the water board becomes a member of the Delta Program for Biodiversity Recovery. “The knowledge available within that network will help us to measure and monitor more effectively. You will soon see that we really have something to celebrate.”

Looking ahead: for clean and healthy water, we focus primarily on the future

For Reitsema, 2025 is also a year of looking ahead. He will propose the package of measures for the final period of the Water Framework Directive, but the work does not stop at the 2027 deadline. "Our work cuts across all kinds of dates, so we also have to look further ahead," he explains. We know that it will end in 2027 because, due to climate change and the pressure of invasive exotic species in our system, we will only have to do more to ensure good water quality in our area." 

He also wants to look beyond 2027 in the area of purification. "We are responsible for clean water, but we also purify water." He wants to use 2025 as a year for research and inventory. "During this administrative period, we will submit a proposal to the general board about how we view our purification processes in the future. In particular, the quality of the water that comes out of them." Here, too, he is contributing to a healthier living environment.

Speaking out: engaging with the community to work together on clean and healthy water

He also wants the water board to be more vocal about its views on clean and healthy water. "Precisely in order to engage in dialogue with the community. We are a party that cares about clean water, because we have a very comprehensive view of everything related to water." He believes that the water board can connect many things, but that in national policy, water quality is not always a leading priority. That is precisely where he wants the water board to speak out more. "We are going to take some great steps in that direction this year."

This does involve a number of challenges. Reitsema explains that you need to carefully assess what you have and how to deal with it. "As a water authority, you want to work on water quality, but you also have to deal with all kinds of laws and regulations." Many requirements for discharge from treatment plants are not always in line with the directive, which means that cooperation is necessary. The water authority must therefore also seek connections from outside. "Water is something that connects, but ultimately it must increasingly come together and have an impact on our water quality."

Resident involvement: as a resident, you can do a lot to promote healthy and clean water. 

Residents also play a role in achieving clean and healthy water, he explains. "We can do a much better job of involving the people who live, work, and recreate in our area in what they themselves can do to ensure clean and healthy water. I think we sometimes forget that." He says that the Water Framework Directive is something we must do together. Everyone bears responsibility for it. "We shouldn't point fingers at each other and just clean up our own mess. We have to do it together and work on it together." He wants to offer residents a perspective so that they also know what they are working towards. "I think that will come together very nicely in the coming years."

Kop van Drenthe: exemplary project in which many different interests come together and are heard

Reitsema is looking forward to the strategy of the implementation program that the water board will be putting together with its partners in the Kop van Drenthe region. "We will not only look at what needs to be done, but also at how we want to work together." According to him, this is an example of how you can work together with different interests to shape water and soil management in practice. It is important to have the support of the local community in projects, because as a government body, the water board has a responsibility to everyone who lives, works, or recreates in its area. "That's where we need to demonstrate the importance of such a project. Then you can connect with each other much more. Projects may take longer and be a bit more expensive as a result, but ultimately you will achieve great results that will really be supported."