1. US Army Corps of Engineers Paul Bourget USACE USA Coastal and Floodplain Management: the US and Dutch Experience Jean-Marie Stam Rijkswaterstaat Netherlands

2. US Army Corps of Engineers MOA USACE-RWS In May 2004, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat (of the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water management) signed a Memorandum of Agreement to work together on water management.

3. US Army Corps of Engineers Louisiana 2005 Zeeland 1953 Then Katrina came…

4. US Army Corps of Engineers Drawing a lot of attention to the Netherlands…

5. US Army Corps of Engineers …and a lot of Dutch interest in New Orleans…

6. US Army Corps of Engineers Louisiana – the Netherlands

7. US Army Corps of Engineers “…We need a levee system like the Dutch…” Protecting a world class city like New Orleans with a world class levee system like the Dutch have is what we need to do to protect this national treasure. A Netherlands-type of levee system will protect residents, neighbourhoods, and businesses in New Orleans. That’s what homeland security is about. Broadening Katrina’s Lens, no 4: Katrina’s bigger pictureTuesday, July 10, 2007 New Orleans Levees Netherlands Levees

8. US Army Corps of Engineers Scale

9. US Army Corps of Engineers Scale USA Contains the whole river basin Varied hazardscape, none is top priority Variations in density so non-structural measures Netherlands The Dutch are at the end of 3 river basins National focus on one hazard High density so protective infrastructure

10. US Army Corps of Engineers History SimilaritiesDifferences 1800-1850Military engineers Developing infrastructure Economic cycles Emphasis on navigation Centralisation vs decentralisation Higher priority water resources in NL 1850-1900Family farms Rapid capital acc. Consolidation gov. NL/ concerns power USA 1900-1920Urbanisation Social engineering Agr. Mechanisation & electrification Hydraulic eng. as science Ethnic pluralism USA USA still unpopulated areas Many nat. resources USA 1920-1970 Large scale water projects Crises -> expansion nat. flood contr. Hydr. research Several USA water agencies USA dev. hydropower Polder model vs. econ. and pol. elites 1970-nowEmphasis on water quality, non struct. measures & integrated approach Public involvement (stakeholders) Centralisation vs. decentralisation USA congressional budget vs. policy and budget consensus in NL Official concern NL climate change

11. US Army Corps of Engineers Governance USA Flood management shared by many organisations Shared responsability Cost shared with local sponsors USA super power Taxpayers monies Individual responsibility litigation culture Netherlands Flood management in one ministry Centralized governance National funded flood infrastructure Nl part of EU State monies “polder model” consensus culture

12. US Army Corps of Engineers Flood management approaches USA: prevention & preparedness Structural (shared responsibility) Non-structural measures (federal responsibility) More public awareness and involvement More flexible and robust in large areas with low pop. density and varied hazardscape Netherlands: protection System of dikes, levees System for maintenance Continuous financing Law defines responsibilities Small, densly populated, prosperous 50 years Last safety assessment: 44% complied; 24% did not comply; 32% unclear

13. US Army Corps of Engineers Collaborative opportunities Opportunities Safety and risk Technological innovations Operations and maintenance Basin level strategies Coastal zone management Participatory planning

14. US Army Corps of Engineers Collaborative opportunities Opportunity Safety and risk Technological innovations Operations and maintenance Basin level strategies Coastal zone management Participatory planning Learning strategy Time Scale Societal develop.

15. US Army Corps of Engineers Conclusions The US and the Netherlands are learning a great deal from each other Converging historical development of water management Differences in scale and, governance lead to different flood protection approaches (prevention and preparation vs. protection) Because of differences many collaborative oportunities with following key learning strategies: –50 years head start -> Gerschenkron’s law –Larger scale = more research resources –Similar societal development

16. US Army Corps of Engineers MOA USACE RWS And please visit our website!!!! www.rwsusace.nl