Governing groundwater excess: insights from a failed collaborative process in Delft, the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Groundwater governance tends to be concerned with problems of over-extraction and pollution. Groundwater excess, which is increasingly becoming a problem in many places around the world, has largely been ignored. This article discusses groundwater excess and particularly the governance approach for engaging with groundwater excess. By discussing a case study in the Netherlands, we argue that groundwater excess has a varied impact on different actors. This varied impact and the fact that the legal framework largely ignores groundwater excess presents a significant challenge for governing groundwater resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Groundwater excess
• governance
• the Netherlands
• law
• collaboration

Acknowledgments

The authors are very thankful to all the participants who were interviewed about their involvement in the groundwater excess conundrum in Delft.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors..

Policy and legal frameworks

Council Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy.

Council Directive 2006/118/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the Protection of Groundwater Against Pollution and Deterioration.

Government of the Netherlands 2009, Water Act 2009.

Municipality of Delft, Sewage Plan 2017–2020.

Province of South Holland, Groundwater Levy Ordinance of South Holland. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://decentrale.regelgeving.overheid.nl/cvdr/xhtmloutput/Historie/Zuid-Holland/72181/72181_1.html

Interviews

Government official no. 17, 31 July 2019.

Government official no. 18, 31 July 2019.

Homeowner no. 1, 15 June 2018.

Homeowner no. 5, 1 October 2018.

Homeowner no. 6, 1 October 2018.