Experts urge Philippine officials to emulate Dutch flood control model

Joel Catencio in AllVoices: A Filipino environment expert proposed to the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday to emulate the flood control system of the Netherlands to avoid flash floods near watershed areas throughout the country. Dr. EstebanEsteban C. Godilano, director of the Climate Change Conference of the Philippines (CCCP) said this during the “Summit on Climate Change Readiness” at the DENR Central Office in suburban Quezon City.

Godilano said the flood control system in the Netherlands is an important development project as about two-thirds of the Europen nation it is vulnerable to flooding while at the same time the country is among the most densely populated on earth.

“The Netherlands is just like the Philippines surrounded by bodies of water. It is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25 percent of its area and 21 percent of its population located below sea level, with 50 percent of its land lying less than one meter above sea level,” Godilano said. He noted that the Netherlands, also just like the Philippines, has significant land areas which have gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes.

…He said river dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the Netherlands by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals and pumping stations (historically: windmills) keep the low- lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture….