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Dutch advised to begin massive preparations to protect low-lying country from rising seas

By TOBY STERLING | Associated Press Writer

10:55 AM EDT, September 3, 2008

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ The Netherlands needs a massive new building program to strengthen the low-lying country's water defenses against the anticipated effects of global warming for the next 190 years, a key panel advised Wednesday.

The plan by the Delta Commission includes more than euro100 billion (US$144 billion) in new spending through the year 2100 to take measures such as broadening coastal dunes and strengthening sea and river dikes. It is expected to be the central reference point for policymakers for decades to come.

"We're not trying to scare people because there's still time to act," said chairman Cees Veerman, handing the report to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in a nationally televised news conference. Balkenende promised to immediately begin drafting its recommendations into law.

"Whatever social or economic hardship this country faces, water runs through it," he said.

The commission revised earlier estimates of how high seas may rise and said current safety norms are inadequate.

Dutch policymakers have, until now, prepared for a rise in sea level of around 30 inches (80 centimeters) by 2100. The commission said the country must plan for a rise in the North Sea by as much as 4.25 feet (1.3 meters) by 2100, and 6.5-13 feet (2-4 meters) by 2200.

Two-thirds of the Netherlands' 16 million people already live below sea level, mostly on land reclaimed from the sea over the centuries and protected by high banks of sand.

The commission was created in September 2007 after the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina spurred reflection and preparations. Those included drawing up worst-case plans for evacuations — unthinkable politically just a few years ago.

Specific recommendations include improving dikes' strength "by a factor of 10"; using offshore sand supplementation to broaden dunes that guard much of the country's central coast line and strengthening sea dikes.

The country's worst flood in living memory was a 1953 disaster in which a storm surge drove water along the Dutch coast more than 13 feet (4 meters) above normal levels, breaching defenses and killing more than 1,800 people.

"Throughout history, we have made water plans after a disaster," Sybe Schaap, the country's chief water official, told NOS news. "What is unique about this plan is that it has been drawn up before a disaster."