Water and Soil Guiding in practice: Northern Aa Valley project

‘The area through which the Aa stream flows is located in Noord-Brabant, east of Den Bosch. An abundance of farms and villages characterises this rural region. Last year, a so-called Green-Blue Regional Approach (Dutch acronym GGA) was launched in the Northern Aa Valley. This approach includes plans by different parties to make the area climate resilient and improve water quality.

WUR is involved in the process through a study commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), taking one step beyond the GGA: we map how the different spatial challenges, such as water quality, housing and cultural history, influence each other. We also study what measures may be deployed to make the area climate-proof while considering the physical and social landscape.

The regional parties have recently conducted an explorative study in the Northern Aa Valley. They studied what challenges the area faces and what issues and opportunities there are. The challenges vary, ranging from nitrogen and the Framework Water Directive (FWD) to biodiversity and cultural history. Each challenge requires space, while the available space is limited. Hence, smart choices are needed! The question is also what measures are fitting within the “water and soil guiding” principle.’

The system's "language"

‘Water and soil guiding means taking the system as a whole into account. How does the system function naturally? How has it developed over time? What has been changed, and how can we use the natural process to make the region climate-proof and robust so that it can take a beating? We aim to unravel and utilise the system’s “language”, as it were.

This shows that thinking in terms of systems differs from thinking in terms of policy challenges. A challenge often relates to just one part of the system. “We must cut back so many per cent of nitrogen”, for example. We want people to consider the underlying bigger picture. That begins with creating a collective language. What does water and soil guiding mean? And how do the different stakeholders view the region’s interest from the perspective of their own expertise?’

Turning the dials

‘The issue is that all parts in the natural system are interconnected. If you turn one of the dials, the rest is also impacted. For example: When the climate heats up, wind velocity increases. That, in turn, affects seawater circulation. And that, again, affects how much carbon the water can absorb. In the Northern Aa Valley, we are now figuring out how the different challenges are connected. Once that is known, better choices can be made. What measures are to be taken that can benefit the entire system and positively impact multiple challenges? We must prevent the solution for one challenge from causing new issues elsewhere.

I see that those involved in the project are committed and energetic. At the same time, the preliminary reactions are rather different. This matches precisely what strategic partners need, while professionals with a more tactical responsibility in one of the challenges are sometimes still searching. And understandably so, because it really is a completely different approach that requires you to include considerations beyond your field of expertise.’

Practical approach for the Netherlands

‘The experiences in the Northern Aa Valley are to yield an approach for all of the higher sandy soils in the Netherlands, from Brabant and Limburg to Gelderland, Overijssel and parts of Drenthe. I hope that the methods we develop will help regions work in a future centred around the soil-water system.

Moreover, I hope that people within the regions agree on paradigms: what will we do and what not? These paradigms can then be used to address questions from the community. Does the initiative proposed by farmer X fit the water and soil guiding principle as agreed upon by the parties in the region? If not, how can we make it so?

We must bear in mind that the social-communal component in water and soil guiding is very important. Working on the future is a collective effort. A regional plan must match the region’s cultural-historical origin and what the inhabitants value. Ultimately, we are in this together.’