The Netherlands on Tuesday unveiled a multi-billion-euro, multi-decade plan to counter the biggest environmental threat to the low-lying European nation: surging seawater caused by global climate change.
The project, expected to span 30 years and cost 20 billion euros ($25 billion), will see new sea barriers built and existing dykes strengthened in the country, much of which lies below sea-level.
The government said it was aiming to have the whole country ready by 2050 to face the effects of climate change.
For centuries, the Dutch have battled the waters of the North Sea that have at times flooded large swathes of the country, particularly in its southwestern Zeeland province.
After a disastrous flood in 1953 which left almost 2,000 people dead in Zeeland, the Dutch built a system of dams, storm surge barriers, dykes and other water-management projects, known collectively as the Delta Works, to keep the sea out.
A study by the Dutch National Environmental and Living Institute, released last week, showed one in three dykes or dams did not comply with current safety standards.
Part of the government's plan will see some 200 dykes reinforced, better usage of fresh water, and making cities more "water-proof", for instance by introducing floating homes and creating space for water to flow.
In the Rhine and Maas River deltas in the southwest, the government was looking at building stronger dykes, while surge barriers were to be fortified.
PHOTO: A photo taken on Decmber 6, 2013 shows high water at the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier in Oosterschelde
CREDIT: AFP Photo/Bas Czerwinski