Yahoo News 18 Dec 08;
THE HAGUE (AFP) – The Dutch government on Thursday unveiled a multi-billion dollar plan to reinforce dykes and the coastline and augment fresh water supplies in the face of rising sea levels due to global warming.
Two-thirds of the Netherlands lies below sea-level and the country is increasingly worried about the threat of devastating floods.
The government's national water plan proposes strengthening hundreds of kilometres (miles) of dykes along the North Sea, adding massive sand deposits to the coast, increasing river drainage capacity, and expanding the freshwater Ijsselmeer (lake) north of Amsterdam.
"The Netherlands has good fresh water provision, but it won't always be guaranteed," said a government statement, warning about the "intrusion" of salt water due to the rising seas.
Highlighting the need to also take advantage of abundant water, the government said a windmill park in two areas of the North Sea should be built to generate 6,000 megawatts of energy by 2020.
They will reportedly be able to generate as much energy as six coal-fired power stations.
Nine million people from a population of 16 million live in inland areas directly sheltered from the sea and rivers by dykes and dunes.
Sixty-five percent of the national production capacity lies in flood-prone areas.
The plan, presented to parliament on Thursday, also moots the possibility of creating an artificial island in the North Sea for energy storage and production.
A government-appointed commission said in September that the Netherlands would have to spend more than 100 billion euros (143 billion dollars) over the next century on dyke upgrades and coastal expansion to avoid flood damage resulting from global warming.
Once passed by parliament, the plan will be incorporated into a national water law.
In 2007, fortification measures against water cost the country a total of five billion euros.
