Bart Schultz
The first Water Authority was the Water Authority of Rijnland. A privilege granted by Count Willem II in 1255 indicates that this Water Authority must have been established before then. Since then, the number of Water Authorities has gradually expanded. For example, the book Man-made Lowlands: History of Water Management and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands mentions thousands of Water Authorities. Numerous mergers have led to a significant increase in scale over the years. For example, in 1965, a major reorganization took place, during which the number of Water Authorities, which had already been reduced to over two thousand, was further reduced to one hundred and twenty-five. In 2018, there were only 21 – much larger – Water Authorities.
Initially, the Water Authorities were primarily responsible for water quantity control and flood protection. Water quantity control was aimed at maintaining the preferred polder water level, or the summer and winter water levels, as effectively as possible. Originally, the summer water level was primarily focused on, as the land was intended to be sufficiently dry to grow one crop per year. Only after the introduction of steampower pumping stations at the end of the 19th century did stricter enforcement of the winter water level begin. Water quality management was added, particularly after the Second World War, for which separate Water Treatment Authorities were originally established. These later merged with the Water Authority in the same area. Integrated water management, based on the ecosystem approach, is now in place.
The Water Authorities are governed by the board of the dike reeve and representatives of the area. Initially, the polders were primarily used for agricultural land. This was reflected in the composition of the general assembly, which was based on property rights within the management area. A well-known slogan in this context was Interest, payment, say. This principle was partially abandoned in 2009, due to the possibility of electing representatives of political parties to the general assembly. Since World War II, significant urbanization has taken place in many polders, which will certainly continue in the near future. Furthermore, nature and recreation areas have been and are being developed in a number of polders. These types of areas all impose different requirements on water management and flood protection. Therefore, optimizing water management and flood protection in such a way that the requirements of the various area types are met as much as possible is a major challenge for many polders.
The European Water Framework Directive of 2000 and related directives, such as the Habitat Directive and the Bird Directive, play a key role today. These stipulated that water management should be based on the river basin approach for rivers within the European Union. For example, there are plans for the management of the Rhine and the Danube, and the Member States have committed to implementing them in accordance with the agreements made. Furthermore, Member States were required to develop management plans for the parts of the river basins within their national borders, and finally, water management within these areas has to be coordinated based on sub-basins. The current boundaries of the Water Authorities are aligned with this as much as possible and therefore do not correspond to provincial or municipal boundaries.
A key factor in the functioning of the Water Authorities is their right to levy taxes. For example, inhabitants and owners of property pay three types of taxes to the Water Authority where they live or own property: a resident water system levy, a built-up water system levy, and a water purification levy. For rural areas, there's also a levy per hectare of land. The funds received from this are used to finance the tasks of the Water Authority. However, certain improvements or modernizations may be subject to government subsidies. I believe this position is essential for the proper functioning of the Water Authorities and for ensuring optimal water management and flood protection. It is, of course, crucial for the Netherlands that this position is safeguarded in the future.
