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Barry Ros is a project manager for the Fryslân water authority, which wants to investigate how natural measures can help to make future-resilient dykes. Wetterskip Fryslân, together with Deltares, University of Twente and TU Delft, is studying the effect of salt marsh grass and foreland on the force of waves reaching the dyke. As a result, a dyke may need less space.

Each year, hundreds of international water managers, engineers and scientists visit Deltares. The visitors come to work with us on joint research projects, to attend events such as the Delft Software Days, and to consult us for strategic water issues. Many of our visitors stay in Delft for several days or weeks. By visiting these highlights, you will enjoy your visit to Deltares even more.

How can we achieve global coverage and locally relevant coastal wave estimates? Deltares experts Fedor Baart, Martin Verlaan, Guus van Hemert and former Deltares expert Anna van Gils utilised new technologies to develop a coastal wave emulator. In this blog Fedor Baart explains about the development of this simulator.

Droughts are among the most far-reaching and yet some of the most elusive natural hazards to nature as well as to mankind. In recent years, countries around the world have been severely impacted by droughts that affect food supply, agricultural income, employment opportunities, drinking water facilities and energy production. As shown in the figure below, countries like India, South Africa, California, and Malawi have suffered from severe droughts over the past years. An increasing need exists for more accurate assessment and monitoring of drought hazards and impacts, to support decision making on drought risk reduction, risk financing and disaster response.

Roshanka Ranasinghe, Senior Specialist Deltares and IHE Delft’s Professor of Climate Change Impacts & Coastal Risk, contributed to the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was released earlier this month. He explains here why the world needs to act NOW to adapt and to avoid runaway climatic change.

What is the groundwater level on your land? Groundwater levels that are too high or too low can cause damage. Using the instructions below, you can measure the groundwater level yourself and discover how this level changes due to factors like rain, drought or building work in your area.

The peak discharge of the Meuse in early 2023 was the highest discharge measured since records began in july 2021. The second and third highest discharges were in January 1926 and December 1993, when the peaks were in the same order of magnitude (between 3000 m3/s and 3300 m3/s). An overview of frequently asked questions and answers can be found below

Climate change is expected to have major consequences for the availability and quality of water, and lead to more intense and frequent natural disasters. The impact on people with little capacity to adapt will be disastrous. The CAS side-event ‘For people’s sake’ showed that inclusiveness is essential in climate change adaptation investments to establishing a more equal society. The importance of social inclusion is increasingly acknowledged, but making the concept tangible in the field is considered challenging.

There are no fewer than 54 cities worldwide with a high risk of drought. Our solution? Knowledge about water systems and good governance. Read more about this in this blog by groundwater expert Dimmie Hendriks.

Real-time flood forecasting is one of the most effective flood risk management measures. Indeed, many governments operate bespoke hydrological forecasting services that continuously monitor and forecast coastal and fluvial water levels.