Deventer bracing for high water at the IJssel River; "It will be tense"

The municipality of Deventer is hard at work monitoring the rapidly rising water levels in the IJssel River on Wednesday. Officials fear the water level will eventually rise so high that water will flow into the city center.

A Deventer spokesperson said the municipality is carefully keeping watch at the water level reported in Lobith. The Rhine River enters the Netherlands in the eastern town of Lobith, before splitting off in several directions, one of which becomes the IJssel. The river runs north from Arnhem to Doesburg, Zutphen, Deventer, Zwolle, Kampen and on to the IJsselmeer.

The water takes two days to flow from Lobith to Deventer. "The highest level has currently been reached in Lobith," the spokesperson said. This means that Deventer still has to continue to brace for the worst.

On Wednesday morning at 6:15 am, the water level in Deventer was 6.21 meters. That is only slightly lower than the critical point of 6.30 meters when the IJssel can begin to flood the city. The municipality raised the height of the quays using sandbags, making this critical point slightly higher.

"We hope that this is sufficient to keep the IJssel within the quays," said the spokesperson. "It's going to be tense."

The spokesperson expects the highest water level to reach Deventer in about a day and a half. "Yesterday the level rose at one point by one centimeter per hour. Fortunately, it leveled off after that." Specific factors such as heavy rain or wind can create the final conditions which cause the river to overflow into the city. As a precaution, Deventer closed the Welle on Tuesday. The road and walkway runs along the IJssel in the city center. The city said it was not certain when the area would reopen.

Other areas with some concern for very high water include Zutphen and Zwolle along the IJssel, as well as the Markermeer, on the west side of the IJsselmeer. There were very high levels of water reported in Lobith and Nijmegen, just east of there, as well as Culemborg and Zaltbommel. Venlo also reported higher than normal water levels.

However, Zutphen is not expecting any problems, as the city is located on river dunes. That makes it more difficult for water to reach the city center. So far, some walking and cycling paths were closed there, but the municipality does not expect it will have to implement other measures.

Zwolle is also not expecting issues caused by the IJssel. The water level in the city center is mainly influenced by the water level of the Vecht River, which is further north of the city. The water level in the canals rose considerably, but the peak was reached on Tuesday evening. The water will gradually recede in the coming days.

Kampen also expects to keep dry, believing the IJssel can adequately handle enough water without endangering the city. A municipality spokesperson said they were in close contact with the regional water board.