Smarter operational water management

The Dutch Water Supply On-demand Project aims at ‘smarter operational water management’. By supplying freshwater at the right place at the right time it contributes to an optimal distribution of freshwater. The project is well-described by four principles: measuring, knowing, adjusting and saving.

Users and water managers jointly measure water quality, in this case salinity concentrations, of the surface water. Together these measurements provide a detailed real-time insight in water quality. This insight provides the necessary information to accurately determine the amounts of freshwater that have to be supplied to the users.  A ‘smarter supply’ saves water since water is only supplied when it is really needed. There is also a positive economic externality to the approach: if less water is supplied to the polders, less water has to be pumped out of the system.

The project aims to optimize water management. The intensive cooperation between farmers and the local water board brings together users and managers . Such a cooperation creates a joint responsibility for freshwater availability and use. Thence, the project not only aims for technical and economic outcomes, but also promotes participative water management.

The Water Supply On-demand Project was awarded with the Province Noord-Holland Water Management Innovation Prize 2014.