Water assessment in the Netherlands

Abstract

Water assessment has recently been introduced in the Netherlands as an instrument for implementing the Government's latest policy on the spatial management of water. Its objective is to guarantee that the interests of water are taken into account in spatial plans in an explicit and balanced way. In a water assessment process, which is flexibly integrated into all kinds of spatial planning procedures, water authorities are actively engaged from the outset in developing spatial plans. As well as describing water assessment's characteristics, this paper compares water assessment with environmental impact assessment and the proposed strategic environmental assessment in the Netherlands.

Keywords:

• water assessment
• environmental impact assessment
• strategic environmental assessment
• the Netherlands
• spatial policy
• water management