Policies & regulations for coastal erosion

The Netherlands is one of the leading countries when it comes to coastal safety. With a large part of the country below sea level, the Dutch have a long history of protecting the land from floods. The main principle behind the Dutch coastal policy is called dynamic coastal management. This approach uses sand nourishment to maintain the coast, while minimising disruption to natural processes. As long as enough sand is added to compensate for erosion, the coastline can be kept in place. In this way, wind and waves have space to move sand freely, creating a natural and diverse coastal landscape.

To achieve this, several policies are in place in the Netherlands to protect the coast. Dune safety is also incorporated in the Water Management Act (in Dutch: Wet op de Waterkeringen), the Dutch legislation on flood defences. The Dutch coastal maintenance policy consists of three components:

• Evaluation of dune and dyke safety
  The safety of dunes and dykes is regularly evaluated. Where needed, the dune defences are strengthened. The Netherlands maintains a relatively high level of coastal safety with dune defences along the central Holland coast designed to withstand extreme storm events.
• Preservation of the Dutch coastline
  Every year, Rijkswaterstaat measures the coastline and compares it to the base coastline of 1990, which is preserved as the minimum coastline to be maintained. This shows where the coast is changing and losing sand. At places where there is structural erosion, sand nourishments are carried out to restore the coastline.
• Sustaining the wider coastal system
  The broader coastal area, including estuaries and basins, is maintained by keeping sufficient sand in the coastal system. This helps to avoid long-term threats to the coast and prevents instability of tidal channels.

To organise this work, Rijkswaterstaat runs a national maintenance programme called the Programme for Coastal Zone Management (in Dutch: Programma Kustlijnzorg). Every four years, a maintenance plan is set up for the most vulnerable parts of the Dutch coast, which is updated annually based on new measurements. Currently, about 11 million cubic metres of sand is added to the Dutch coast each year. This volume will need to increase (PDF) in the future as sea levels rise. The Sea Level Rise Knowledge Programme (PDF) concluded that the current approach of sand nourishments will remain sustainable for the coming decades, even under extreme sea level rise scenarios.