Zuid-Limburg residents want better protection against flooding

The residents of the villages along the Geul in Zuid-Limburg want better protection against flooding. In the coming week, the residents united in the Samen tegen Wateroverlast (Together Against Floods) foundation will address the Limburg Water Board. Water board party AWP is also campaigning for a higher standard for flooding in Limburg.

According to national agreements, built-up areas, such as villages and towns, must be protected in such a way that the probability of flooding per year is one in a hundred. In other words, the area is so well protected that flooding occurs at most once every hundred years. In Zuid-Limburgs Heuvelland, on the other hand, the province has set a value of 1 in 25 for built-up areas in many places. Statistically speaking, residents there can therefore be affected by a flood once every 25 years.

The foundation, of which 125 people from Schin op Geul and Valkenburg are members, believes that this must change. Secretary Paul Smeets has lived in Schin op Geul since the 1970s. He has experienced four floods in his village, the last one in 2021, which hit the region hard at the time. The consequences were severe. "It took a year for our homes to be fully restored," he said.

When it rains heavily in the hilly landscape, the water can come from both the slopes and the Geul, Smeets explained. In his opinion, the government can do more for the latter in particular. He would like to see more structural space for the river, with dams to protect built-up areas. Such measures should ultimately lead to a standard of one in a hundred, the foundation said.

The water board party AWP is also campaigning for better protection for the whole of Limburg. Board member Marja Hilders has already raised the issue several times. She wants the water board to apply to the province for a higher standard. This week, she also sent a letter to the Governor of Limburg, Emile Roemer, urging him to take action. Among other things, AWP wants the standard for new buildings to be raised, it informed Roemer.

According to the province, compliance with the standard of one in a hundred in the entire Heuvelland region is "too enforced". Given the nature of the slopes, this would only be possible with "very drastic" measures and the costs would be high. The province is working together with the water management authority and others on water safety in the region. According to a spokeswoman, this also includes more personal responsibility on the part of residents. For example, they can install sockets higher up in the house and choose a tiled floor instead of wood.