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As Louisiana Flood Resiliency Mission Heads to France, Governor Edwards Gets Firsthand Look at Netherlands Flood Control Infrastructure Project and Research Facility 

Louisiana / The Netherlands – On Tuesday, the third day of a weeklong mission to Europe, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and more than a dozen Louisiana economic, coastal, and business leaders shifted their quest for exportable water management insights from Amsterdam to France, according to the Louisiana Office of the Governor. Following a high-speed train ride from Amsterdam to Paris, the governor will proceed to the Luxembourg Palace to meet with the 348-member French Senate, one of the French Parliament’s two legislative chambers.

The mission’s second part followed a daylong fact-finding tour of flood control installations in three different areas of the Netherlands on Monday, which started 50 miles south of Amsterdam with a tour of the huge Noorwaard depoldering project in Werkendam. Polders are low-lying coastal or riverbank areas that were once underwater but became dry ground when dikes were built. The Noorwaard depoldering was a crucial component of the Dutch Room for the River water management project, which began in 2006 to protect coastal villages along the Rhine River.

“This mission is a powerful reminder that Louisiana residents are kindred spirits with the Dutch, who have embraced creative solutions for living with, rather than fighting against, water for generations,” Louisiana Governor Edwards said. “The Noorwaard depoldering resembles similar projects within Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan. To view in person the positive impact of this years-long undertaking reaffirms our state’s visionary, long-term approach to the water challenges we face. How to apply the lessons of Room for the River to our own coastal programs will be a focus of follow-up discussions today and in the days to come.”

Dr. Franz Klijn, a Dutch specialist in flood risk and water resource management, informed the delegation on Room for the River, a project that has built approximately 20 miles of additional dikes, 33 new bridges, 60 new hydraulic structures, and 12 new pumping stations across the country.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to learn from a group of people fighting some of the same challenges we face every day, but it’s also a chance for other countries to learn from the significant progress we have made over the last several years,” CPRA Chairman Chip Kline said. “While the Dutch are known internationally for living with and managing water, Louisiana is being looked at more and more as a global leader in addressing and reacting to a changing climate.”

The party then drove to Kinderdijk, a world heritage site considered by many to be the cradle of modern water management due to 19th century windmill and steam-powered pumping station inventions that emerged there. The group resumed its exploration in Delft, which is home to Deltares, a leading non-profit water management consultancy and research organization whose huge structure served as a model for Louisiana’s Water Campus in Baton Rouge.

Louisiana Governor Edwards met with Netherlands Water Envoy Henk WJ Ovink at Deltares to discuss Louisiana’s continued water management collaboration with the Netherlands. The team also witnessed a demonstration of the Delta Flume, the world’s most advanced wave test facility capable of simulating the effect of high waves on dikes, levees, dunes, breakwaters, and offshore buildings at full scale.

“We had a frank exchange of ideas and discussed the challenges facing both Louisiana and the Netherlands,” Deltares Director of Hydraulic Engineering Dirk-Jan Walstra said. “As low-lying deltas, climate change and sea level rise have a huge impact on our regions. We were also proud to show Governor Edwards and the delegation of the Deltares experimental facilities, including the Delta Flume, and stressed the importance of using these facilities alongside our software to provide sound knowledge-based advice for policy makers. We hope that we can continue to share knowledge and expertise together, learning from each other as we deepen our collaboration with The Water Institute.”

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