News

A new international analysis has been published in Nature showing that actual sea levels are significantly higher than previously assumed in most studies of the consequences for coastal areas. Researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Deltares, University of Köln, and Podava combined land and sea measurements correctly. Their datasets are now available in open access, making it possible to dispense with some complicated calculations and make coastal hazard analyses more accurate in the future.

Every day, all sorts of substances – from industrial chemicals to pharmaceutical residues from hospitals – enter our water system via wastewater treatment plants. The wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a crucial role in cleaning up our wastewater. But they are not designed to remove all substances completely.

The Netherlands must be better prepared for multiple climate crises. New research by Deltares, TNO and the Netherlands Institute for Public Safety (NIPV), commissioned by the Climate Safety programme, shows that crisis management can become gridlocked when heat, drought, water shortages and wildfires occur simultaneously.

Governments, businesses and citizens need to become more aware of the safety risks posed by extreme rainfall, and take more action to reduce them. That is the main conclusion of the report ‘Onveiligheid door extreme regen’ (‘Safety risks from extreme rainfall’), published today by the Dutch Safety Board. Professor Marjolijn Haasnoot of Deltares was a member of the supervisory committee.

River deltas are among the most densely populated and economically vital areas worldwide but they are exposed to increasing risks from relative sea level rise. New high-resolution satellite analyses (InSAR with Sentinel-1, 2014-2023) show that land subsidence in forty deltas on five continents is widespread and, in many cases, faster than sea level rise. The study provides consistent, delta-wide measurements at 75 m resolution and it has now been published in Nature.

Henk Ovink will join Deltares as a part-time visiting fellow on 1 January 2026. Ovink is already chair of the Deltares International Advisory Board – a position he will maintain.

To make Nature-based Solutions easier to apply, Witteveen+Bos and Deltares have jointly developed the wflow NbS design tool. This tool allows natural solutions to be integrated into hydrological models and makes it possible to quickly see their impact on catchments under different climate scenarios. This improves the design of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), supports co-creation processes and enables informed decision-making on water management and climate adaptation.

Predicting how waves move towards the coast plays an important role in assessing coastal flooding, dune erosion and changes in the coastline. A new study by Deltares and IHE Delft, recently published in Copernicus' Geoscientific Model Development, presents an innovative solution for this: the SnapWave model.

Food security in countries affected by conflict is not only determined by what happens within their borders. New research calculating a composite drought risk shows that international trade plays an important role: it can reduce local drought problems, but also brings new risks.

At the Hoeve Lotmeer farm in Anna Paulowna, the 'Zoetwaterboeren' project has implemented and tested both a circular water system and a drainage water purification system. In this project, we collaborated with an arable farmer, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), research center Vertify, and installer Pipelife. One of the goals of the project is to reduce the environmental impact of arable farming on the local area.

In Dikwa, Nigeria, thousands of displaced families are hit by severe flooding each rainy season. In July 2024, heavy rainfall damaged more than 260 shelters and affected over 4,400 people. Working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Deltares analysed how water moves through 17 camps for internally displaced persons and which drainage solutions can best reduce these risks. The models reveal the main bottlenecks, and the improvements that can make an immediate difference.

Climate change poses an increasing threat to millions of people living in coastal cities worldwide. By 2100, more than 97 million people could face an expanded risk of flooding. Traditional models rely heavily on local measurements, which are often lacking in vulnerable areas, especially in the Global South.