"Working beyond the river"

To follow up on my previous post a few days ago, Groundwater as a public resource, some further questions and comments.

Will Vermont's drinking water be safe?
Will there be enough to support people and the environment?
Can an effective water policy be made?
What about climate change?

As the scope and complexity of Vermont's and America's water problems increase, the need emerges for a water resources strategy.

The State of Vermont has a Department of Environmental Conservation under which is a Water Quality Division. Vermont could follow the Dutch example by creating a stand-alone, separate Department of Water.

The Netherlands' Prince of Orange, an expert in water management, said in a speech on November 9th at the global launch of the UNDP Human Development Report 2006 ('The water crisis of the 21st century: how can we turn the tide?'):

Of course, no single sector and no single country can solve these complex problems alone. In the water sector, we have long understood that. Thinking on the matter has led to the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management. This implies that in everything you do, you take account of the many functions water fulfils in a given area and of the people who depend on it. That means working with other sectors, strong commitment from all stakeholders and implementation at the right – often local – level. That is what I like to call ‘working beyond the river’.

From Water in the Netherlands:

The water system approach was introduced in the Netherlands after the Dutch were faced with extreme water related problems: In 1993 and 1995, the Netherlands was startled by extremely high water levels in the rivers. Shortly thereafter, inhabitants and farmers of yet another region of the Netherlands were burdened with water related problems resulting from sustained rainfall. During the 1990s, the Netherlands also experienced several summers of dramatically low levels of precipitation.

Because of climate change and economic trends, the continued existence of the Netherlands requires everything to be done to prevent flooding and limit any damage. It is a good idea to do this now by using more resources, making better use of knowledge, defining responsibilities better and cooperating better. The entire safety chain is central to this, which means that a joint approach to preventing flooding will be examined, as well as limiting any damage, in cooperation with all parties in the Netherlands.