In 2013 it was commemorated that sixty years earlier, in 1953, a major flooding disaster took place in the southwestern part of the Netherlands (see vignette about the Great Flood in this chapter). After the shock of that event, enormous investments were made to make the country more waterproof. The infrastructural improvements were so successful that no further flooding has occurred since the disastrous event of 1953. The younger generations of the Dutch are hardly aware of the inherent risks of living in a country that is partly below sea level. Although the Dutch river district almost experienced flooding in 1993 and 1995, with dangerously high water levels in the big rivers, water consciousness is generally very low in the country: people generally do not think a lot about flooding risks. During one of the memorial events in 2013, the national Minister for Infrastructure warned that the country and its people are insufficiently prepared for new flooding disasters. According to her, flooding risk is a badly undervalued political issue. Awareness of these risks is required at all levels: in government, among social actors, and among the population.

What an individual Dutch citizen can do to keep the country safe and dry is far from obvious. Most of them hardly have a choice, as most large cities and economic activities are concentrated in the low part of the country. Protecting the west of the country against risks of flooding is a matter of consistent and long-term government planning and of structural investment in security given the potential hazards of the current era of climate change.

This chapter will focus on water consciousness in Dutch society and the policy alternatives for a sustainable future. The stakes are high. It is expected that during the twenty-first century the sea level will rise by at least sixty centimeters. In northwestern Europe, climate change will result in a higher frequency of extreme weather conditions, with strong storms and heavy rains. Intensive rainfall will result in higher peaks in the discharge of the big rivers, especially the Rhine and the Maas. This excess river water will flow into the North Sea, but less easily than today, because of the rising sea level. On top of all this, the Dutch subsoil, already partially below sea level, is slowly sinking. Ground water seepage is an increasing problem.