Water-mananagement work is becoming more expensive

Core tasks are changing

The legal responsibilities for managing surface water and treat wastewater from households and businesses are changing rapidly:

• Climate change is leading to rising sea levels; a rise of 1 metre now expected by the year 2100. We need to do more to ensure our safety in the face of rising water levels: stronger dykes greater capacity to pump water away when necessary.
• The quality of surface water must improve to ensure a healthy living environment. Far-reaching agreements have been made on this in Europe. The challenge is significant. The measures are complex. Water quality depends on many factors and can sometimes only be positively influenced over the long term. In addition to patience, investments are needed to make water cleaner and healthier: in treat ; in the use of (fewer) pesticides along waterways; and in designing watercourses more naturally watercourses greater aquatic life and biodiversity.
• Regulations governing treated from households and businesses are becoming stricter. Agreements are also being made in Europe regarding this issue. Microplastics, pharmaceutical residues, and other emerging substances must treated thoroughly treated from treated wastewater.
• We are facing increasingly extreme weather conditions. To cope with these situations, we need, on the one hand, to create areas where water can be temporarily stored before we gradually discharge it into the sea. On the other hand, we need to try to retain water more effectively to combat drought.
• Our country has made binding commitments, both nationally and internationally, to meet climate goals. This means we need customise our work customise significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate our own energy, and increasingly reuse raw materials. 

Conclusion: The water authority “traditional” core responsibilities water authority greater effort to continue fulfilling its legal obligations. This inevitably leads to rising costs.

Spreading ambitions over time

The Executive Board realises these ambitions realises far-reaching—extending well beyond the duration of this term of office. Not everything can be done at once. Choices will therefore have to be made: priority, scheduling, implementation timelines, and the organisation capacity organisation careful consideration. The Executive Board intends to present a feasible and affordable implementation agenda for the coming years in February 2024.

Ambitions from the coalition agreement “The Value of Water” that have now been incorporated into the Annual Plan are:

• Proceed with area process with a view to future agricultural and nature development (freshwater-saltwater connection);
• Commitment to the process with the provinces to ensure that water management and water-related interests are properly safeguarded in the National programme Areas programme ;
• Active efforts to give water and soil a greater guiding role in existing and new spatial development projects.

Cushioning the rise in costs by using €2 million in reserves

All of this leads to an inevitable increase in the costs of water-management work. To mitigate the rise in the tax rate to some extent, the executive board intends to draw €2 million from the reserves for the coming year.

After utilizing reserves, the executive board proposes a 12.9% increase in water board charges for a family owning their own home (with an average WOZ value of €480,000).
Given the major challenges involved in continuing to perform—at a minimum—our statutory duties, a further (substantial) rate increase is expected in the coming years.

Want to read the full annual plan?

The Annual Plan has been submitted to the Board of Directors AB). You can find the full Annual Plan in the meeting materials at for the informational meeting of the Board of Directors November 15. The AB will vote on the proposals in the Annual Plan on November 29.