Column by Marieke van den Boom-Witzel: Living with Water

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Alderman van den Boom-Witzel
Alderman van den Boom-Witzel

It has been exactly 30 years since, as an 8-year-old girl, I saw the waters of the Maas flooding our backyard. While many older people now describe February 1995 as a stressful time because they had to leave their homes behind, I look back on it with nothing but a smile. We built a raft with the neighborhood kids. We floated around on it for hours between the playhouse, the trees, and the soccer goal. Until the water got too high and the raft threatened to go over the garden fence. Then we had to abandon ship.

The Land van Maas en Waal has experienced major flooding in the past

Many of us still remember the high water of 1995. But of course, this was nothing compared to the flood disaster of 1926. On the morning of December 31, 1925, the dyke Overasselt broke. As a result, the entire Land van Maas en Waal region was flooded. To prevent the situation from getting worse, Dike Reeve De Leeuw decided to Dreumel the dyke Dreumel . This allowed the water to flow back into the Meuse. Although there were no fatalities during the flood itself, the water left behind extensive damage in an area that was already impoverished.

It’s an event that almost none of us have ever experienced

But it is indeed part of our history. And there are still little things that remind us of it.
Just think of Dijkgraaf de Leeuwweg and the flood-era houses that still stand there. But also the mindset we have as people from the Maas and Waler regions.

It's time to show ourselves

While discussions in The Hague are now focusing on the “Soil and Water-Led” guidelines, this is nothing new to us. We know what it’s like to live with water. That is why the five municipalities affected by the 1926 flood disaster (Heumen, Wijchen, Beuningen, Druten, and West Maas en Waal) have joined forces. Together, we will commemorate what happened next year and show what it has taught us. But even more importantly: together, we will demonstrate how we are facing the future with water. After all, where better to show how to live with water than in the Land of Maas and Waal?

Marieke van den Boom-Witzel,Alderman
Alderman