Exploring Dutch approaches to flood resilience in the United States
A Dutch partnership on flood resilience travelled to Florida and Texas last April to explore opportunities for collaboration in this field, combining Dutch experience in water management with the knowledge, priorities and expertise of American stakeholders. The trip coincided with a working visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima, and the launch of the Water as Leverage Academy in South Florida.
The Gulf Coast of the United States and the Netherlands share the existential challenge of flood resilience. Both regions are low-lying, deltaic environments formed by large river systems meeting the sea, and both have suffered the consequences of chronic flooding over the years. With these similarities, it is logical that the Netherlands and the Southern United States look at each other’s water-related developments. Given these similarities, closer collaboration and knowledge exchange between the Netherlands and the Southern United States is a logical step.
The Dutch Flood Resilience Solutions partnership is a recent initiative of the Dutch water sector that intends to bring together Dutch and American counterparts to exchange knowledge and shape practical, scalable solutions to the USA context. The partnership, established under the Partners for International Business (PIB) programme of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and coordinated by Dutch Water Prevention and the Netherlands Water Partnership travelled to Florida and Texas in mid-April to explore opportunities for collaboration on flood resilience, infrastructure protection and climate adaptation.
From technical talks to practical solutions
In Florida, the delegation visited the Miami metropolitan area and Key Biscayne. The programme also included an eventful day at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science. There, the Climate Resilience Institute of the University of Miami hosted a dynamic programme with high-level sessions and a showcase of Dutch and South Florida resilience technologies. The occasion brought together government, knowledge institutes and industry leaders from both nations to address coastal protection, flood mitigation, infrastructure, and emergency response. His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who were on a working visit to Miami at the time, also participated in the programme, alongside the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands and the Mayor of Miami-Dade County.
The day marked the inaugural event of the Water as Leverage Academy in South Florida. This new platform, designed by the Water as Leverage programme of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, is meant to stimulate mutual learning and co-creation of new approaches to advance urban water resilience. As part of the launch, water experts from both sides worked on cases from Miami-Dade County, South Florida Water Management District, and the city of Rotterdam.
The practical side of the day came with the presentation of innovative solutions such as FloodAdapt, a flood adaptation planning tool that supports communities in making informed decisions on flood risk through advanced modelling and impact simulations. Other Dutch technologies on display were self-activating barriers and other means of reliable flood protection.
After three days in Miami, the delegation continued the mission in Texas. In Texas, the first visit took place in Houston, where meetings were held with the Harris County Flood Control District, representatives of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, IDRT, and officials from surrounding cities and municipalities in the Houston area.
The second visit in Texas was organised in San Antonio, where discussions were held with the Public Works Department, San Antonio Water System, the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, and the River Authority. The programme also included a flood mitigation event co-hosted by the Gulf Coast Protection District and the Harris County Flood Control District. Dutch delegates and American officials emphasised the importance of including community engagement in flood resilience strategies and reviewed Dutch approaches to managing flooding. At the end of the event, attendees had the opportunity to see several flood mitigation systems in action during an outdoor demonstration.
According to Raymond Hofer of Dutch Water Prevention, coordinator of the Dutch Flood Resilience Solutions partnership : “The initial PIB mission to Florida and Texas created strong engagement with local stakeholders and provided valuable insight into regional challenges. The focus now is on follow-up: strengthening cooperation and moving from dialogue towards the implementation of practical flood resilience solutions.”
About the mission & its delegates
The mission was organised by the PIB programme and received the support of a Dutch public-private partnership consisting of Dutch Water Prevention, Netherlands Water Partnership, Netherlands Business Support Office in Texas, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Miami.
Mission delegates were a mix of knowledge institutes, innovative product manufactures and logistics/engineering companies that frequently collaborate on international flood resiliency projects, namely: BlikSensing, Boxbarrier, Delft University of Technology, Deltares, Dutch Float Dike, Dutch Water Prevention, Hyflo Self Closing Flood Systems, MHL Projects, Neele-Vat, One Architecture, Staal Instruments, Tubebarrier, and Van der Kamp.
Visit the Dutch Flood Resilience Solutions partnership’s website for more information on the mission, its participants, and future activities.
