Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard Water Board

Polder Bleiswijk is a low lying (beneath sea level) rural area within the management area of the Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard Water board. The land-use is mainly agriculture with scattered infrastructure, but rapid spatial developments are taking place towards increased urbanisation and the development of specialised agriculture (glass houses). The character of the landscape will change over the coming years.

The current water management of the area requires a strict system of drainage and level control with weirs and pumping stations pumping the surface water to the boezem. 

The Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard Water board is together with other authorities and actors committed to integrated development of the water system within the context of the spatial developments in the polder. Key items of the development are multi-functionality and water as steering element in the transformation. In the current situation the Polder Bleiswijk severely suffers from excess water in times of intensive rainfall and lack of fresh water in times of drought. It can be expected that due to climate changes in the coming years and decades more problems will occur, which eventually will lead to serious economic loss (e.g. loss of crops, damage to infrastructure). In extreme cases of flooding even the safety of the inhabitants can come under pressure. In order to reduce economic loss in future, the polder Bleiswijk will be subject of water based transformation of the area, where change of current land use towards multi-functional use has the objective to improve the water management of the polder.

The investment consists of the enlargement of the amount of open-water surface in the Southern Part of the polder Bleiswijk, including the interlinking of a water-rich nature and recreation area into the water system. This will be done by the creation of some new water channels for transport of water towards water retention areas in case of superfluous water, avoid urban water discharge entering in a nature area, improve the availability of water in situation of water shortage and increase the ecological potency of the area. The new water channels will be multi-functional towards recreation (canoeing, boating), nature (ecological embankments), landscape, water management and water quality.

Deliverables:

The investment includes the realisation of a landscape integrated new channel (earthworks and landscaping), ecological embankments, two canoe-passable culverts (innovative concept) and a pedestrian and cycle bridge.