Weeks of drought have tipped the Netherlands into an official water shortage, with regional watering bans and other measures on the table.
The condition is so severe that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management moved the country up from “impending water shortage” (level 1) to a feitelijk watertekort (actual water shortage; level 2).
Despite sounding the alarm, the Ministry stresses that there’s no need to panic: your tap water is safe. Rijkswaterstaat, the government agency that manages the country’s water, has been working with regional water boards for weeks to “retain water and distribute it as effectively as possible.”
However, with less water to go around, authorities are now making careful choices about where it flows. Depending on where you live and what you do, a few things could be changing.
Local watering bans may be coming
Authorities have outlined restrictions on pulling water from the ground, streams, and ditches — and where those bans apply, watering is off the table.
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While these bans hit farmers the hardest, if you’ve got a garden, those same local bans can apply to you too.
As the rules are set locally, by one of the country’s 21 waterschappen (regional water authorities), what applies in one area won’t necessarily apply next door. To find yours, pop your postcode into this lookup tool, then check that authority’s website for the current rules.
How did things get this bad?
The Netherlands gets its fresh water from two sources: rainfall and the Rhine and Meuse rivers flowing in from abroad. Lately, both have been running low, with a hot, dry summer sending demand soaring.
And, as river levels drop, salt water from the sea pushes further upstream, threatening already dwindling freshwater sources that farms and wildlife rely on.
Is the Netherlands in crisis?
Not yet, according to the experts. Level 2 means the water shortage is being actively managed, with one step still above it: level 3, a national crisis, last declared in 2003.
The real question is whether summers like this become the norm. For now, the guidance is what water companies advise every year; use water sparingly, shortage or not.
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