News

Last year, we published a set of future scenarios for the Netherlands, focussing on issues relating to the health of people, animals and the environment, often collectively referred to as ‘One Health’. Now we have created future land use maps for each of these scenarios for 2050, enabling us to model future health risks.

To make Nature-based Solutions easier to apply, Witteveen+Bos and Deltares are jointly developing a tool. It allows natural solutions to be integrated into hydrological models and to quickly see their impact on river basins under different climate scenarios. This improves designs of Nature-based Solutions, supports co-creation processes and helps informed decision-making on water management and climate adaptation.

The major rivers that flow through the Netherlands have a significant impact on our nature, culture, economy, and food and water supplies. To quantify the effects of our river and floodplain management on these so-called ecosystem services, a broader assessment framework has been developed by Sien Kok, a researcher at Deltares and WUR. She did this as part of her doctoral research through the European project MERLIN, which promotes the restoration of rivers.

In a world where extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, understanding the link between meteorological events and their societal consequences is crucial. A new thesis, of Deltares expert Henrique Moreno Dumont Goulart, delves into the emerging method of storylines—narratives that connect past climate events with their causes, impacts, and future alternatives under various plausible scenarios.

The Eastern Scheldt Barrier protects large parts of Zeeland from high water levels since its inauguration in 1986. The barrier closes once a year on average during a heavy storm to protect Zeeland from flooding. After more than 35 years of use, some parts of the barrier need to be renovated or eventually replaced. Deltares, commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat, is carrying out scale model tests to accurately map the hydrodynamic loads on individual parts of the barrier.

The European sturgeon (Acipenser sturio), up to 5 metres long and 400 kg heavy, once swam everywhere in north-western Europe. Due to overfishing, dams and pollution, this primordial fish almost became extinct. In the 1990s, it was saved by a French breeding programme and it is now being investigated whether the sturgeon can return to the Rhine. Information on the main habitats and migration routes is very important for this. In new research led by Sportvisserij Nederland and Wageningen University, Deltares is using the D-Eco Impact tool, which will help put the puzzle together as to whether reintroduction is feasible.

Deltares was honoured to welcome the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and His Majesty King Willem-Alexander. The President and the King visited our Delft campus as part of the Portuguese state visit to the Netherlands. Accompanied by a delegation of Portuguese Members of Parliament and businesses, they received a demonstration of our unique experimental facilities and learned more about the sustainable innovations Deltares works on to ensure oceans remain healthy.

The Netherlands regularly deepens and widens canals to keep them navigable. To do this work well, we need to know more about the interaction between the canals and the subsurface. In the coming period, Deltares will be studying the subsurface of both the Juliana Canal and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal for Rijkswaterstaat.

A new study from the USGS, in collaboration with Deltares, Deltares USA, and many other partners, highlights the escalating climate risks for coastal communities along the Southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. Projections indicate that by 2100, up to 70% of the population will be exposed daily to shallow and emerging groundwater. Combined with other climate-driven coastal hazards such as flooding, beach erosion, and subsidence, these threats underscore the urgent need for comprehensive climate adaptation planning.

How do wind farms affect the North Sea ecosystem? The new research project NO-REGRETS aims to answer this question. Deltares is one of the key partners in this five-year project, which has received €6.7 million in funding from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Globally, energy use in buildings is a significant contributor to CO₂ emissions. To help reduce climate impact, Deltares is launching a pilot project with AquaBattery on its Delft campus. This innovation, based on table salt and water, enables renewable energy to be stored efficiently and sustainably over longer periods. From November 2024, Deltares will test this sustainable battery, aiming to make its campus Paris Proof by 2040.

How do we best make use of our existing water infrastructure? And how do we help water managers balance the various interests they face in their daily work? Optimisation techniques for operational water management have now been assembled by Deltares for the first time in the overview paper 'Optimisation methods in water system operation'. The authors have compiled optimization techniques that they have been using in practice and the paper is intended for (prospective) water managers. At the same time, the authors invite fellow scientists to further develop optimisation techniques specifically for water management.