Climate Resilient Watershed Approaches for Urban Communities in Florida (USA) and the Netherlands

26 October 2021

Eline Anvik

Adaptation for All

“Florida has more in common with the Netherlands than one might think”, may not be the first statement that comes to mind when we talk about flood control. The statement may be true for the large engineered coastal storm protection system the Dutch have constructed, including the Deltaworks. However, when it comes to river basin management in the Netherlands, watershed planning in Florida, the interplay between various interventions and scales as well as water governance, there is clearly more in common than might appear at first sight. It is key to understand how these institutions and landscape with or without solutions currently performs and how they will perform during future extreme weather events.

Recent studies like Miami Dade County’s Sea Level Rise Strategy, have taken a holistic approach to climate challenges, aiming to establish higher levels of community resilience by developing adaptation pathways with a focus on coastal nature based and inland watershed strategies to increase the performance of public space and reduce the likelihood of devastation and loss of life, and effectively help communities to better prepare to live with the water to come. The recent flood disaster in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands adds a timely factor to a comparison on the impact and response to climate related extreme weather events and how regional watershed planning will need to work to everyone’s advantage.

During this interactive session, the audience will take part in a multi-national, -state and -municipal comparison: how do we plan for or respond to the extreme, where do we need to improve and what is currently happening to drive improvements?