ABSTRACT
After the completion of the Room for the River program, focus and budget for flood prevention measures in The Netherlands have shifted towards more dike reinforcements. However, in the project ‘Meandering Meuse’, a combination of more room for the river, a dike reinforcement and area development turns out to be more profitable from various points of view – more room for water leads to lower water levels, thus potentially requiring lower dikes. Additional advantages consist of a new landscape, providing additional benefits for nature development, recreational and economic benefits and a better water quality. By combining all these goals the total costs can be optimized; especially because excavated soil from the floodplains is used in the dike or other parts of the project. In Meandering Meuse all stakeholders are searching for the optimal balance between their different policy goals by developing an integral spatial design for the whole area. To enable this integrated approach a unique governance system is set up, in which stakeholders work together towards an optimal solution, by which the local acceptance and even support may increase. This approach not only leads to increase added value for the area (e.g. for restoring natural areas), but also requires less transport of material and thus less greenhouse gas emissions. The sustainability profits are considerable. Therefore it can be concluded that river widening in an integrated approach of area development and flood prevention is profitable and desirable.
