The trick of the Dutch
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Interesting images – Mass is flooded in the middle of a dry summer
It’s hard to believe: the mass bursts its banks in some places, even as water levels drop dramatically elsewhere. Photo: Morten Overstegen
Graveyard In the past few weeks, the Rhine has carried less water than ever before, and rivers in the Netherlands have turned into creeks. Not so the muse in the tomb. There was even an underwater procession. What’s going on there?
It looks like an image from another era, but at a cemetery near Nijmegen it’s real: Mass washes over the procession. Despite talk of dramatically low water in many places, rapidly falling water levels and livelihood concerns for inland boaters, the world between Gennep, Cuijk and Grave still seems to be in order. There is plenty of water and the landscape is green. At least in the immediate vicinity of the Meuse, there is no drought to speak of.
But this is not due to particularly large amounts of rainfall in the east of the kingdom recently. Background: The Maas has its source at Pouilly-en-Bassingy in France, then flows through Belgium and the Netherlands, and finally flows 905 kilometers into the North Sea. Although the situation is nowhere as dramatic as in Germany, Moss has had to contend with limited water in recent weeks. The level in front of Nijmegen is currently less than five meters, while in the border town of Jennep it is eight meters. There are no restrictions even for domestic shipping.
But what is behind the strange images? Rijkswaterstaat, the authority responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads and waterways in the Netherlands, is working to temporarily raise water levels. Mass has numerous locks and dams that are used to control water levels.
As Rijkswaterstaat explains at the request of our editors, this is happening these days between the weirs at Grave and Sambeek. This move is good not only for the groundwater level in the region but also for the soil quality. The soil is prevented from drying out. Rare species of plants can be protected in this way.
The current situation seems all the more strange as the region is still dealing with life-threatening water levels in July 2021. Almost 13 months ago, after heavy rain in Belgium and the Netherlands, there was flooding and extensive damage in the province of Limburg. At Jennep, a dyke had to be reinforced without further ado, and at Boxmere, sandbags had to protect the population. At the cemetery — as it was later this summer — the banks were flooded. Of course, there is no danger, Rijkswaterstat says the situation is under control.
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