I wish they were also responsible for managing the infrastructure of the country I live in. Their roads, pavements, bicycle paths etc are the best in the world by a wide margin

A lot of big water projects all over the world are already managed by dutch companies

Well they all work and run oil rigs for multiple oil companies.

I agree with you

I think the Dutch people are smart enough NOT to take on everyone else's problems too! Lol

The Netherlands is one of the countries doing the least for climate change mitigation at the moment compared to other European countries. This isn't about being wise. The Netherlands is just good at dealing with certain types of problems problems and completely ignore other problems.

In reaction to comment above: Carbon footprint in comparison with other country's is similar per capita with other European countries. So I don't know what you moan about

It's true that the Netherlands still lags behind most other European countries. I say this as a Dutchman. Our country's politics are all about compromises, about the middle ground..... and that is something the climate crisis cannot be solved with. No pain no gain....

@@chigeh bruh you never heard of bicycles in the Netherlands ?!

Very true, and not just their house and farm, but the "Room for the river" plan also protects many more people downstream. Geert is a typical short-term thinker.

I think the deal he mentioned was about the compensation he would get for flooded crops. A rare midsummer flooding, like recently, is probably not within that deal so no compensation for the lost crops. That's why he feels the need to talk with the government about that.

Not really. His concern is that originally, the idea was that a summerflood, taking out the crops would be rare. He now worries that it’s not gonna be that rare. As such moving the farm up the terp, with the crops remaining in the same location, might not work as well as initially anticipated, making him once again dependent on the government. Also his parents could have moved completely and/or given up on farming, like some of the other families did after the buyout. He’s not worried about his life, but about business/livelyhood.

If the project hadn't been executed, the land would have been protected by a higher dike/levee. The project 'room for the river' actually lowered the dikes in some places, to allow the river to expand, instead of causing higher and higher surges downstream. But the farmers have to accept occasional flooding of their lands. In the case of cow farms, that's typically not that much of a concern: they have room for the cows in their barns, typically keep the cows there during winter anyway, so with an occasional summer flood, it's not that much hassle. For crops however, this will cut directly into their livelyhood.

@@Pfooh And if that happens, we should just (partially) compensate them for it. I don't think it is/should be such a big deal as he is making it out to be.

You're always welcome

When you come, don't make the mistake of going to Amsterdam only. Although it's a brilliant city, it very poorly reflects the real dutch lifestyle and it's architecture. There are many other cool and beautiful places to visit. Geniet ervan!

Thank you for the advice , very much appreciated .

You'll be blown away by how amazing the infrastructure in the NL is. I live in Athens and the two are like night and day :(((((

If you like major projects the Delta works (and the scale model they used for tests) is a must. The Afsluitdijk is amazing as well if you realise that one side was once also sea. Flevoland is not much to look at, but it was created and is incredibly flat. It would be your chance to walk on what was once the sea.

Are you in Africa by any chance?

@@Slottpax8698 Worse American Home of the brave land of the free only when your debt free and fully own your house and car and body

what goverment the netherlands is a monarchy.

@@airobot4088 Dude you stuck in the 19 century? The Netherlands have been a democracy with an elected government since ~1865. The monarch is just kept in place for cultural and PR reasons, and has zero influence on how the government is run.

@@timmy7201 Your country like all western european countries are slaves to the holy see. vatican city see treaty of rome 1957. see EEA commission 1993 . now……. see European Union. You never had a democracy. it is a plutocracy wake from your slumber and brace for Sunday Law under the guise of climate change

Legend says that his toss of a newborn calf is even better

my dad did this as well.

Bringing back the legend of 'The Flying Dutchman' to a new level.

@@dutchman7623 🙄😂😂😂

Heartbreak if mother sees.

Dutch is basically German but spoken by toddler..

@@karlel9663 I've been told we sound like drunk Englishmen trying to speak German, I have to say...... Quite spot on

@@Remcore020 😂

@@karlel9663 Dutch is half English and half German with sore throat

@@karlel9663 german is angry dutch))))

Only down there. Up here on the Elbe in HH, we remember our last big flood . .

Nie wieder CDU!!

To be fair, we don't plan decades ahead in general, we only do so in watermanagement.

Ein Niederländer sagt das vielleicht sogar auf Niederländisch

Yes, like not bragging about our countries every now and then

@@maryam4680 what did u say about our greatest country of the world? ;)

@@Volluta good one 👍🏻😂😂 I love the Netherlands and I always feel jealous about all the things they take for granted

I am virgen

@@juanpedro4083 good for you

But why would you let water get there in the first place, it costs your government a lot of money every time

@@mcfireballs3491 Do you suppose local governments appoint wizards to wish away the water?

@@mcfireballs3491 There are choices to be made, flooding farm land or flooding city center Dordrecht downstream.

The problem isn't just the money, its also the food itself that gets to waste and the farmer needs to get it from somewhere else instead.

@@Martinspire The flood plains next to rivers were always meadows where a farmer could let his cattle graze during the summer months. Now farmers consider it to be workable land and grow mais and potatos, it is clearly their risk. Any other use than meadows should be forbidden!

Hallo, does it flood or snow much in the Netherlands?

Only the description states it wrong. They gave Peter Glas the correct title of Delta Program Director/Commissioner. The 'Maaswerken' explained in this video is part of the Delta Program, just like the Delta Project once was. Where the Delta Project defends us against the sea, the Maaswerken make sure the Maas has enough room.

just like the british did to native american Indians.

The US abuses eminent domain to steal land from its own citizens, Trump used eminent domain to steal land from dozens of American homeowners to make room for the wall he ultimately failed to build.

they need the money to kill inocents in other countries and stole their petrol

No, they'd build a chemical plant right next to the river and it would pollute the whole farm.

@@ManOfSteel1 revolutionary war also happen because British don't want give a new settlement in native territory

Each country has its own schemes...some just prevent use of the land.

most areas on the planet, with rivers have some kinds of designated flood planes. The idea isn't new, but often it lacks just administration.

virtually all rivers in the netherlands have those flood plains as well. the trick here is to have these overflow areas working as a presure valve for peak flow to limit the flood level of the river when it crosses a 2000 year old city nearby (where there isn't and can't be a flood plain)

Room for the river is not just creating floodplains. It's a plan that covers (pun) the nation and the future. It would be like the US having a plan to modify the land, funding it for decades to come and carrying out that plan on a national level with federal coordination, knowing it'll probably never really be completed. The Dutch fund their war against flooding like the US funds it's wars.

@@markknoop6283 : Ik weet het 🙂

No there are more projects and iff Germany and Belgium start working together with the Dutch it can faster. There water comes in one. Iff the build better we don’t have that lot of water

Always give room to rivers, because even every spring we have risk of getting too much melted snow as far as Austria

Their king is a German.

@@dpt6849 He is not

@@noahvanderkroft4011 50%

@@noahvanderkroft4011 I mean his ancestry starts in Germany and his last name comes from a area in France. Can we just agree that European monarchies are weird

@@dpt6849 kinda. He has a Dutch mom and a German Father, but according to that logic, the Romanov family was also German.

We have to, because otherwise we would loose half of our country.

Well thanks, Even if your first name is pretty clear hint of Dutch ancestry ; )

Well English is taught in schools from about 7th or 8th grade all the way through final exams in high schools. At uni it is also a common language for a set of classes. During all that time, I would hope we gain some proficiency at it. :)

Sure, they can start by teaching us how to get rid of all the mountains around the river so we have enough space for flood plains.

Bruh, The Netherlands is flat unlike the parts that flood in Germany

@@appleslover you do know that the same flood was also in the netherlands

@@Lunavii_Cellest it wasn't nearly as bad as it was in Germany and Belgium because our land is flat.

@@Lunavii_Cellest but also in a region which is living on hills.

Same here

@@kumarayush7748 isn't that called job-creation ?

I shouldn't laugh about this... I really shouldn't....

the rivers will never get to that boy for sure

Yes i thought the same, it has happened before

When the right dutch poeple are in the right places we make history.

Please don't look at our government donkeys please

Centuries of realizing 'We are in this together, and we have to cooperate to solve it!' have made the Dutch less egocentric than most others. Because being egocentric backfires within a few years, and than you are alone with your trouble and problems.

I fear for the future of humanity should that be the case. Sure, there are clever individuals, but the general populace... smh

Yes, they are smart, hard working, innovative and adventurous. But the government.. they are just any government in any other countries.

I had to google where Nagaland is located, exotic location in such an immense country!

Without Googling it, Naga is Indian for snake right?

@@wp12mv You are right! Cheers!

I am virgen

@@juanpedro4083 I was not expecting that comment when I opened the reply section.

Its not that simple, other lands aren’t that flat, they have other difficult terrain that make moving away and giving the river more space a lot more difficult…. search for a picture of the city Dinant in Belgium (the latest city to have had a flood here). And you will see that they can’t just move away from the river just as easy as in the Netherlands. They face a very rocky and steep cliff at the other side. And these floods we had here in Belgium in the Ardennes were never seen before, you have take this into account too why they weren’t prepared for this.

Tank you

You welcome! I'm an Ethiopian American and love the Dutch football ⚽️

I am virgen

@@fantastic1231 hahah i am Ethiopian Dutch bro

Only a few are smart

yeah i doubt this will work under water.

I do not know what mountains are. We don't have them in the Netherlands :P

The thing is that those exact same rivers eventually end up in the Netherlands. I would argue that making room for the rivers is in fact easier in Germany since Germany isn't as densely populated as the Netherlands.

Ruhr and Ahr both empty into the Rhine which goes through the Netherlands, though admittedly the Ruhr also empties into the Wezer and idk the volume split. Anyhow, the Rhine wasn't even the problem for the netherlands this summer, it was the Meuse and it's tributaries.

The big issue from Germany and Belgium was that they weren't able to warn the population like the Netherlands did with NL Alert. It evacuated a lot of people. On top of that its easier to make a floodplain in the Netherlands if you have nobody living there but whether you need to move homes or excavate is no different. Germany completely underestimated the amount of water that was able to flow there. Had it been the case, it would've had bigger and deeper rivers. But the main issue was that they couldn't warn anybody to evacuate

@@g.z5800 the problem in .de and .be were the hills. All the water gathers in valleys where the villages are. making room like we did can only be done be removing hills or moving entire villages. so the Dutch solution cant be applied there. I dont know what solution can, especially when the water in the valleys start to drag trees, it becomes a devastating current of mass wrecking everything in its path.

The problem is that German and Belgian municipalities built houses very close to the river or even in the floodplain, which acts as a funnel. As of consequence all of these houses where washed away. In Germany and Belgium the river literaly created room. In The Netherlands we created room for the river.

Perhaps, but if they are, it is a very low standard. Could also be that the people that became politicians have changed to the worse. On many levels i consider it a shitshow of sociopaths at the moment in the Netherlands. Still better then USA from what I have seen; but a shitshow.

The Dutch have been a pluralist society for over a 1000 years. They have a word for their style of negotiation; 'Polder-model' which means that all party's involved negotiate for as long as possible until everyone is satisfied with the outcome. Their politicians represent a lot more different party's and aren't concerned with partisan actions. On most levels of the government there isn't much lobbying going on, and if there is, it's frowned upon as a form of corruption. This leaves space for a lot of good hearted, long term thinking politicians who try to win your future vote by being effective at their job

As a Dutch born, raised Citizen I know how the Dutch politics is organised. "Poldermodel " is referring as searching for a middle ground between what different people want and get the idea most people do not have the competence to search for a solution that works for everybody. Agree with you that multiple parties work better then for example the usa. Have the idea that corruption in the Netherlands is not much of a problem because the funds to run for a voted position in the government are coming from the government and is affordable to pay if you have a small amount of fans. Believe the problem in the Netherlands is that more and more, the social infrastructure is crumbling like legal protection, healthcare funding, the government lies, manipulates, withholds important information, breaks laws at a staggering pace, abuses the new privacy laws, breaks human rights on a large scale ; fact, laws, reasoning, reality, empathy, ethics become inconvieniences. Look at the "toeslagenschandaal", uwv wia schandaal, and i know of some others in the making that are much more intense then precious scandals. Get the idea the idea of that most politicians are decent people trying to make a difference in the Netherlands is a delusion. As a small example; Look how Pieter van omtzigt has been treated. I would never vote for the party he was in but get the idea he is a decent human being and critical and that is in the way of the goals of others. The problem in Netherlands is not so much being corrupt, it is mainly that politicions and the goverment are willing to do anything , to get their way with a basis of deception. With anything I mean no matter the consequences, the means are mainly financial and psychological abuse.

The room for the river project is organised by rijkswaterstaat which is a separate entity independent from the government. politicians don't really have a say in this.

I feel you, but at least they're actually doing SOMETHING.

That was the Deltaplan. This is the new Deltaprogramma which is only a decade old. Marketing or original naming aren't the governments strong suits apparently.

@@Crewmember2 Thanks for clarifying.

We have world leading facilities and learning institutions in water management that have high foreign enrollment precisely because of our expertise. A lot of our engineers work in outside the Netherlands because when choosing between a Dutch Water management MSc and an Indian Water management MSc, both from the University of Utrecht, the Dutchy feels more qualified.

They give more 'room for the river', so in case of a flood, the river doesn't flood populated areas, but only uninhabited areas

It's rather simple, instead of having dams next to the river you move the dams way back inland in non urban areas. Therefore if the water rises it doesn't rise everywhere including in the cities but instead it flows into the huge basins between the cities so that cities maintain relatively dry feet

if its a girl use both hands padawan...

@@cosmo_mosy A single second is enough. He is not saying they are, but they *seem*

@@benghazi4216 The mother just speaks English more fluently, and the father was dubbed. The son's accent does not mean he is less intelligent.

30 years ago, climate change was not as obvious and the parents did not push aggressively for garuntees for something that now is a real threat. The world we now live in is much changed from 30 years ago. The son is right to question if it now is a win win scenario.

@@abadyr_ Accent? Is that possible to discern in one second? It's the overall (no pun intended) picture.

@@abadyr_ And nobody wonders why a farmer in the Netherlands would be able to speak another language, besides Dutch. He doesn't need it for his farming !

What? Are you deaf? They even call it a summer flood. This year they had one, climate chance ups that chance, that's the whole problem.

@@sinki19841984 this summerflood was an exception that never happened in about a 100 years. My point is, that you can only use the system of uiterwaarden for farming if they don't flood in the crop season. This system works and is payable in the Netherlands because the uiterwaarden still hold economic value for farming

@@pimcramer2569 this isn't the only flood protection the Dutch have and have other ways to mitigate the damage.

That would be like build a town on the foot of a volcano Some Italian Town " haha nobody ina their righte mind woulde do tha.... oh no, dios mio..."

These aren't the original flood planes, these are new, 'extended' floodplanes that where dry land in the past. Please note that the Netherlands is as flat as a pancake, and the river dikes are over 500 years old on most places. The land outside those old dikes has been considered 'dry' for centuries, and giving them back to the river is of course met with some concerns. If you give up all floodplanes/polders in the netherlands, you give up 50% of the country, and over 80% of the populated areas.

De laatste jaren een stuk veiliger en beter beschermd geworden, in vergelijking met onze buren ,en de rest van de wereld!👍

holland is but the rest of the netherlands not so much

Perhaps you don't want to forget about Zeeland, Friesland and Groningen. Holland is just 2 provinces - North and South. :)

Actually, we got that pretty much covered. The main issues in the future for the Netherlands isn't the sea or the rain (anymore), its heat and lack of water or extreme cold. We've got a pretty good system in holding down the water, but you can't do much if the heat makes everything dry up and remove the water reserves. The climate is getting more extreme and that is an issue, like with many other countries.

@@Martinspire Your capacity is only good until 2050 if sea levels rise as we predict.

@@aidancollins1591 he is right about the drought being the problem. The country is shaped and managed to lose as much water as possible, as fast as possible (otherwise we drown). Our last 2 summers were extremely dry. This meant that the water losing "quality" worked very much against us. There were dried up yellow fields right next to rivers. Irrigation from the rivers was prohibited because we had a risk of getting to a too low water level for river navigation. We'll manage the rising waters by building houses that can float on their moorings.

There's a big difference between the two. Japan's basin system protects mostly against tsunamis from the Pacific and this Dutch system protects against inflowing water from rivers from central Europe. Both are tailormade to different weather phenomenon's. That being said the Netherlands also has a lot of protection from the sea like the Oosterscheldekering and the Maeslantkering.

@@stijnhs don't forger the Afsluitdijk, we made a sea into a lake and just built new land in the lake so all the displaced families of the last flood had a place to live.

​@@DrCatdeJong I hope you're not referring to the flood of 1953, as Flevoland was most certainly not built to give displaced families a place to live. The Afsluitdijk was mainly constructed to prevent flooding. The reclamation of Flevoland afterward provided a lot of space for farmland and residential areas meant to house people from the overcrowded cities of the Randstad.

@@Arjonko i didn't mean to say that it was built just for them, i was just keeping it short

Agreed, this summer is just so exceptionally wet here it doesn't really feel like a summer at all. So many flooded fields, and the river water is very high. Wish i could trade that water for your sun radiation :)

Pipeline 😉

No, the rain was so damaging because it fell on hilly terrain, in Germany and in Belgium. Had the rain fallen in the Netherlands, on flat terrain, it would mostly have stayed were it had fallen, without forming strong streams.

Even if it had, the IJssel river also was subjected to the room for the river project. I find it remarkable that the Netherlands, which is the most downstream on the river, had the least damage. I call that a win.

The Dutch are the best non-native English speakers in the world

@@Brozius2512 I know as I am Dutch myself

@@sheep6938 Ah ok.

It's not cheaper and it will in the future higher than the alps!🤣😂

Better crops polluted then people and animals dead or a whole farm destroyed. There is no perfect solution. The water has to go somewhere when you dont want to build a monster of a dam. And trust me: the Dutch know exactly when and how to build them.

Sure, there are pollutants but also plenty of fresh new minerals for the ground to pick up. Those out way the pollution

@@stijnhs Not if it is to recurring. Also the flood could ruin that years crop, even if it were good for the land if your crops drown each year the land is of no use anymore for crops.

@@mikedebruyn true that, however from the farmers I know who have room for the river fields they just use it to grow fresh grass on which the cattle grazes from spring to autumn. The grass still lives very well after a flooding. Then during a dry spell in autumn the farmer will cut the grass to store it in winter. Other storage crops like corn Is placed in fields behind the dams

@@stijnhs Yes but that is not the same here, at 3:50 they are talking about corn and the field they are standing in front of contains corn as well.

You're right. The Dutch are also master complainers. Even if they made the right choice, they'll find something else to complain about, we know we have a problem 8'D

A lot of the date from rising water is unavoidable. Stopping all emissions today would still mean centuries before the planet changed its trajectory. A lot of climate mitigation is lost too - in the form of forests and grasslands to sequester CO2. So mitigation on floodplains is very important for survival. So both prevention and mitigation are necessary sadly. :(

We don’t have higher ground.

why give up now when gov will pay you for it later?

@@Daniel-gs9eh sooner or later, most of the country will gone...

@@ViralAssassinVines if they had your attitude maybe lol

How many people died in the Netherlands or Valkenburg compared to people in Germany and Belgium that were caught in the same rains? I think that is a win for Valkenberg!

@@mikedebruyn German river Ahr is much larger than the Geul river that flows through Valkenburg. Geul river rose by about 3 meters, the Ahr river rose 6 meters. Had the Geul been a larger river and had it also risen by 6 meters many houses in Valkenburg would have collapsed and people would have died. As they alas did in Germany.

@@williamdrijver4141 I understand that but 6 meters obviously was not part of the risk assessment for Valkenberg. If that was because of prevention measures on the Dutch side i do not know but what ifs are part of the risk assessment and subsequent measures taken. Where i do hear about widespread and invasive prevention measures on the Dutch side i do not hear them on the German or Belgium side.

True, but the Dutch are marketing their solutions to water problems around the world. Water knowledge is one of their best exports. Plus, from the Dutch mindset, and the mindset of the previous century, the idea that you shouldn't enclose a river but open up space around it, and go to the length of even moving small town to make space felt genuinely like a good idea to tell everyone else to do. It's a major shift from the Delta works of the 50s where they built a barrier against the sea

@@wp12mv i didn't have the intention of discrediting the dutch, and im fully aware that they have been forced to be the best damm builders etc. In the world. In tge report it sounded like this was a revolutionary new idea to me, even though we've had a flooding area for 20+ years. Thanks allot for your answer!

why yall jealous

I love how Afrikaans sounds like Dutch though just when I think I understand, I don't. :D

@@nikedoesthings I know right😂

Try Amsterdam, you will make find Afrikaans is enough to get by mostly. Been in a gaming clan with Afrikaners before and we did try speaking without using English as much as possible. Because we could ;)