Winter and summer levels
Water levels in watercourses vary between summer and winter, 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 authority doing to make sure there is enough water in every season: not too much and not too little? In the water situation, you can read the current situation in our region.
Winter
During the winter months, precipitation exceeds evaporation. The water authority uses lower water levels during the winter period. This creates room in the watercourses to collect precipitation and to drain excess water.
Summer
During the summer months, evaporation exceeds precipitation. So, we raise the water level in the ditches to a higher level. This is the summer level. This creates 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 summer or winter level?
We do not apply a fixed period for summer and winter water levels. Water-level management is about looking ahead: when it becomes drier in the spring, we start to store water and raise the water level. When it becomes wetter again in the autumn, 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.
Water-level regulation plans
Agreements on water levels sometimes need to be renegotiated. Circumstances and insights can change. We recently took a number of new decisions on water levels. And new decisions on water levels are being prepared at the moment.
More information Water Level Regulation Plans