Winter and summer levels
Water levels in waterways vary between winter and summer. This is because there is more precipitation in winter than in summer and because of the demand for water.
How dry and how wet is it now?
What are the expectations? And what is the water board doing to ensure sufficient water in every season: not too much and not too little? In the water report, you can read the current state of affairs regarding the situation in our working area.
Winter
During the winter months, precipitation exceeds evaporation. The water board maintains lower water levels during the winter period. This creates space in the waterways to collect precipitation and drain excess water.
Summer
During the summer months, evaporation exceeds precipitation. We then raise the water level in the ditches to a higher level. This is the summer level. In this way, we create a buffer in our water system. Because a lot of water evaporates, we have to supply water during dry periods in order to maintain the agreed levels in the ditches.
When is winter or summer level?
We do not apply a fixed period for winter and summer water levels. Water level management is about looking ahead: when it becomes drier in the spring, we start to buffer water and raise the water level. When it becomes wetter again in the fall, we release water to create storage space. If the spring is wet, we may raise the water levels a little later. If the fall is dry, we may keep the water levels high for a little longer.
Level decisions
Agreements on water levels sometimes need to be renegotiated. Circumstances and insights can change. We recently made a number of new decisions on water levels. And new decisions on water levels are currently being prepared.
More information Water level decisions