Recently the Rijnland Water Authority started using measuring equipment that helps provide better insight into the impact of climate change on water management. Dutch company, Eijkelkamp, with the smart lysimeter measuring station, provides evapotranspiration data about the amount of precipitation, wind and soil moisture.
Why did the Rijnland Water Authority acquire three Eijkelkamp Smart Lysimeter stations? Jan Willem van Kempen, Water Level Manager, and René van der Zwan, Advisor Policy and Research, both employed by the Rijnland Water Authority, explain: “On the one hand, our work involves operational water level management, and on the other hand it is clear that water level management in part is under pressure due to climate change. Climate change is a very high priority for the Rijnland Water Authority.”
“We use an automated decision support system for our water level management operations. This system is supplied with a wide range of measurement information, including water levels and precipitation. The only key item into which we do not have good insight is water evapotranspiration.
“Together with Eijkelkamp Soil & Water, we ultimately installed a lysimeter measuring station at three sites: in Noordwijkerhout on sandy soil, in Woubrugge on clay soil and in Reeuwijk on peat soil. With these three sites we cover our three main soil types, and together with a meteorological station and soil moisture and groundwater measurements we now have a unique combination of measuring stations. As such, the Rijnland Water Authority has taken a leading role in water management in the Netherlands.”
“It is interesting to see that the ‘Netherlands Inc.’ is now looking at our initiative from a variety of angles. In addition, we are receiving lots of requests to be allowed to view the results as we progress. In the context of big data, we are definitely interested in sharing our information.”
