Rijkswaterstaat and the water boards are doing this to prevent the water system from drying out and the groundwater level from dropping. For now, we can buffer extra water. But will that also work when a period of drought arrives in the summer?

Less Precipitation

‘The drought season has started early this year,’ says Deon Slagter, chairman of the National Coordination Committee for Water Distribution (LCW) at Rijkswaterstaat. ‘Officially, the drought season starts on April 1, but compared to 2024, February and March this year have been much drier.’ According to the KNMI, an average of 28 mm of precipitation fell in the Netherlands in February 2025. Normally, 58 to 70 mm of precipitation falls in this month. It barely rained in March 2025.

The discharge of the Rhine has dropped significantly in February and March, and water levels are almost 2 meters lower than average. The snow supply in the Alps is also 30-60% lower than normal. This means significantly less natural water supply (meltwater) this year.

‘The starting situation for the drought season is less positive than last year. However, how dry it will be this summer depends on the weather. Groundwater levels in the Maas and Rhine catchment areas are still quite high. That is favorable. If it starts raining heavily again in 2 weeks, there will be no problem. The discharge in the rivers will increase again, and then the drought will naturally decrease,’ says Slagter.

Effects of Drought

Drought can lead to water shortages, affecting nature, agriculture, and shipping, and in exceptional cases, our drinking water. Lack of water is harmful to crops.

The first effects of drought are already visible. Like the forest fires a few weeks ago in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and on the Sallandse Heuvelrug. The fact that dozens of wildfires are already being reported is due to persistent drought.

Water Distribution

‘We do water distribution during drought,’ explains Slagter. We are already retaining more water so that if the weather remains dry and sunny in the coming period, we can distribute enough water across the Netherlands. There are places in the Netherlands where we can easily bring water with rivers, pumps, and pumping stations.

‘But there are also areas, such as the Veluwe, parts of Zeeland, and the Wadden Islands, that are completely dependent on precipitation. These areas are extra sensitive to drought if it rains little.

Additional Measures

‘We can control water,’ continues Slagter. The IJsselmeer and Markermeer, the largest rain barrels in the Netherlands, are capable of buffering large amounts of water. For more water storage, we implement the summer level at the start of the drought season. This level is normally 20 cm higher than the winter level. With the current drought, we set the summer level 5 cm higher.

‘We do this by opening the sluices at the Afsluitdijk less often. With this extra supply of fresh water, Northern Netherlands has enough water this summer.’ The water boards are also raising the levels now that summer is approaching. From April 1, 2025, local extraction bans have also been imposed.

Climate Scenarios

‘Determining how dry or wet it will be this summer remains difficult. We cannot look ahead more than a few weeks,’ says Slagter. The KNMI climate scenarios analyze and calculate future river levels. These show that water overload and drought will become an increasingly bigger problem.

According to climate scenarios, the average precipitation deficit could increase by 35 percent by 2050. This means that drought periods, like the one in 2018, will be less exceptional in the future. Rijkswaterstaat must anticipate this in the coming years with measures that do not always have broad support.

Smart Water Management

Water managers in the Netherlands, Rijkswaterstaat, and the 21 water boards work together within Smart Water Management to keep the discharge and retention of water better balanced. To prepare the Netherlands for water overload and drought. Two extremes that can occur more frequently in the same year as a result of climate change.

‘Water overload and drought have been a problem for decades,’ says Pieter Filius, water system advisor at the Vechtstromen water board and involved in smart water management. Smart Water Management is aimed at ensuring that water managers make the right decisions in advance based on expectations in cross-border water management. This requires intensive cooperation between all managers at every level.

Saving Water Together

Drinking water companies are prepared for longer periods of heat and drought. They closely monitor water usage to ensure that there is always enough drinking water available. ‘Vewin participates on behalf of the drinking water sector in the LCW and the Water Shortage Management Team (WTM) to bring in the current situation and any bottlenecks in water supply,’ says Hans de Groene, director of Vewin and member of MTW.

Peak load is especially a problem. ‘During a dry summer, drinking water companies often operate at maximum capacity,’ he says. ‘We ask our customers to be economical with drinking water. Actually, you should always be conscious of water use,’ says De Groene. ‘Using less water is always better. That applies to everyone: agriculture, industry, and consumers.’

Drought Monitor

The new drought monitor 2025 is online on March 31, 2025. Here you will find drought forecasts and current information about the drought situation during the drought season (April 1 - September 30). Especially for agencies involved in water management. So that they can take measures to retain or distribute water to combat drought.

The drought monitor is a product of the National Coordination Committee for Water Distribution of the Water Management Center Netherlands (WMCN-LCW) with contributions from the water boards, Rijkswaterstaat, the KNMI, the provinces, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and Vewin. Want to know more about freshwater supply?