Controllable Buffer Network: bringing water where it is needed most

Introduction

The Controllable Buffer Network approaches the Dutch main water system as a single flexible network of freshwater buffers. By retaining water situationally and distributing it more smartly, the Netherlands remains better supplied with freshwater, even with increasing drought and salinisation.

Duration: 2019–2023
Client: Rijkswaterstaat
Keywords: freshwater availability, drought, salinisation, main water system, water allocation, climate adaptation, freshwater buffers, situational steering and Smart Water Management
Models & Tools: System analyses, water balances, climate scenarios, hydrological and salinisation calculations, national decision frameworks, measure analyses and story maps

Background

Less water, more demand

The recent dry summers made clear how vulnerable the Dutch freshwater supply is. Due to climate change, the supply via the rivers is decreasing, while demand from drinking water, agriculture, nature, industry and shipping is growing. At the same time, saltwater penetrates further inland during low river discharges and the freshwater buffer in the IJsselmeer may become depleted.

Continuing with the existing water allocation offers insufficient certainty in the long term. Major infrastructural interventions, such as closing off the Rhine-Meuse estuary, are costly and have major consequences. The central question was therefore: can we maintain the freshwater supply up to 2050 and 2100 without extensively rebuilding the main water system?

Method

Moving with what is available

HydroLogic developed the concept of the Controllable Buffer Network. In it, we view the main water system not as a collection of separate rivers, lakes and canals, but as a single coherent network of freshwater buffers and zones.

Using system analyses and scenarios, we investigated how water can be retained, distributed and supplied more smartly. For example, by deploying weirs and locks more flexibly, maintaining freshwater buffers for longer and making use of new supply routes to the IJsselmeer area.

The strategy moves with the current situation. Water is no longer distributed exclusively according to fixed agreements, but on the basis of the available quantity, the water quality and the demand from different regions and users.

More about our method

The result

New national freshwater strategy

The explorations show that, with a flexible controllable buffer network, the Netherlands can remain better resilient against water shortages in 2050 as well. Water availability remains at the required level for longer and the expected shortage in the IJsselmeer region can largely be resolved, without immediately having to carry out large-scale infrastructural interventions. The concept developed by HydroLogic formed the basis for the national Climate-Resilient Freshwater Supply Strategy for the Main Water System (KZH). This strategy has been included in the Delta Programme Freshwater and the National Water Programme and has since been further investigated and elaborated.

In this way, an innovative idea grew into a new way of thinking about the Dutch freshwater supply: not holding on to a fixed distribution, but steering flexibly and bringing the available water to the place where it is needed most at that moment.

What did the project deliver?

The concept of a national Controllable Buffer Network
A coherent freshwater strategy for the Dutch main water system
Insight into water availability in 2050 and 2100
Building blocks for flexible and situational distribution of freshwater
Measures for freshwater buffers, freshwater zones and alternative supply routes
The basis for the national KZH strategy
Inclusion of the strategy in the Delta Programme Freshwater and the National Water Programme
Postponement of costly interventions, while future choices remain open

“The solution is not to build more infrastructure everywhere, but to retain and distribute the available water more smartly as a single coherent network.”

Maarten Spijker | project lead