Management
Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes
The Municipality of Amsterdam owns the Amsterdam Water Supply
Dunes. Since 1979 the management is implemented according to management
plans drawn up by the municipal council. The first 10-year plan
was written from a forestry point of view. Process based management
was difficult to implement. Therefore, in 1989 a start was made
for a new management plan: Nature Conservation in the Amsterdam
water Supply Dunes 1990-2000. The management exists of vegetation
and landscape management, fauna management, recreation management
and management concerning the water supplies. The nature function
of the dunes affects more groups of users, and therefore, participation
of individuals, surrounding municipalities and interest groups
was promoted in creating the management plan.
At this moment the management plan for 2000-2010 has been written,
but it still has to be approved by the Municipality. After the
approval individuals, surrounding municipalities and interest
groups are allowed to comment on the plan.
The Amsterdam Municipal Water Supply extracts drinking water from
the dunes since 1853 (see: Drinking water
supply). In the Netherlands, infiltration and groundwater
abstraction are governed by the Groundwater Act. The provinces
issue the licenses by virtue of this Act. A condition set by the
licence from the Amsterdam Water Supply is that the effect of
groundwater abstraction on the natural soil hydrology in the dune
area must be recorded. Since 1989 an extensive multi-disciplinary
research started in this respect and in 1998 an eco-hydrological
survey was completed.
Several scenarios of water abstraction were tested on the potential
gain for nature, their effects on water supply, potential inconvenience
for the surroundings and costs. The survey showed that the largest
gain could be realised when changing the water abstraction in
the southwestern part of the dune area and in the fore dunes.
Several projects that emerged from the survey have already been
implemented (see: Nature management).
The management plan also addresses recreation in the Amsterdam
Water Supply Dunes. The aim of the recreation management is to
keep the quietness and space in the dune area intact for people
to enjoy and to inform the visitors about water supply and nature
management (see: Tourism and recreation).
Zuidduinen en De Blink
North and south of the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes the Amsterdam
Municipal Water Supply manages two other dune areas: respectively
Zuidduinen and De Blink (see: Map Amsterdam
Water Supply Dunes and surroundings). Also, the Boogkanaal,
situated north of the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes, is managed
for drink water supply purposes. The most westerly dune ridge,
the fore dunes, is not managed by the Amsterdam Municipal Water
Supply but by Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland. Sea defence is the primary
function of these dunes.
The Zuidduinen are bought by the Amsterdam Municipality from the
city of Zandvoort in 1994. A separate management plan has been
written for the Zuidduinen and is based on ‘organised disorder’
to keep the ‘seaside village landscape’ in tact. Small vegetable
moulds are available for cultivation by the residents, but with
some restrictions. For instance, the cultivators may only use
green manure. The Zuidduinen can be entered freely and it is also
allowed to walk the dog. De Blink also has its own management
plan and the main goal of the management is to keep the strict
reserve for fauna and flora and the characteristic dune area in
tact. This means there is no intervention, the flora, fauna and
morphology is kept in tact and De Blink is not accessible for
public.
Coastal defence
The Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland manages the fore dunes to keep
the sea defence function. This means the first dune ridge is kept
artificially intact. Marram grass is planted to prevent sand drift
and open spots are prevented. But drift sand is the motor of the
dune ecosystem and (partly) becuase of the strict fore dune management
sand drift is almost completely gone in the dune area. In 1990,
the Dutch government introduced the principle of ‘dynamic coastline
management’. This means that the dynamics of the coast can be
enlarged, but the ‘base coastline’ (anno 1990) should be maintained.
Because of climate change and a rising sea level dynamic coastline
management will become more and more important.
References:
- Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes (1998) Amsterdam Water Supply
Dunes; Implementation of eco-hydrological research; in: Coastline
7-3, EUCC. (KJd)
- Beekelaar W.K.A.G. & Geelen L.H.W.T. (1999) Management
scheme 2000-2010; new challenges in the Amsterdam Watersupply
Dunes; in: (ed) Rabski K.: Connecting science and management
in the coastal zone; proceedings of the 7th EUCC International
conference Coastlines ’99, held in Miedzyzdroje, Poland, june
7-12 1999. (PC1999e#)
- Gemeentewaterleiding Amsterdam (intern) (2000) CONCEPT: Terug
in de toekomst, Beheer van de Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen
2000-2010. (33R4A1)
