Authors:
J. M. Schouwenaars
Book:
Proceedings of the 15th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Kuching
Keywords:
infrastructure, land-subsidence, polder-typology, water-management
Documentfile:
ipc16p83-87a054schouwenaars.pdf
Summary:
SUMMARY
In the Netherlands, many peatlands were drained since the 16th -17th century and used for peat extraction and dairyfarming. Since then the rate of land subsidence rates varies between 3 mm – 2 cm per year, depending on local conditions. This requires regular adaptation of water management and hydraulic infrastructure. Different stages of water system (or polder) development can be distinguished. Awareness of the actual stage of development in a drained peatland site enables to predict the next stage in its development. This recognition allows a better decision making on required adaptation strategies such as continuation of the actual agricultural land use, adaptations in agricultural zoning (see Rahmadi et al., 2011) or transformation into e.g. restored wetlands (Schouwenaars, 2011).