Dutch Experts Helping Columbia in Flood Prevention

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Dutch Experts Helping Columbia in Flood Prevention

A team of Dutch experts will be deployed to the Colombian province of Antioquia to advice on the prevention of new floods. On 18 May a major flash flood hit the municipality of Salgar

At least 90 people died in the disaster, making it the deadliest disaster in Colombia since the earthquake in 1999.

The disaster occurred after days of rain in the mountains above the town. The Libordiana River, a tributary of the Cauca River that runs through various villages of Salgar, then flooded upstream and triggered the landslide.

Prevent recurrence

At request of the local Colombian authorities, the Dutch experts will analyse the causes and draw up a plan to prevent new floods.

Dutch minister Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign trade and development: "The effort of the team will be twofold. First of all, it will look at possibilities to avoid more human suffering in the future. At the same time such preventive measures can create a safer environment that allows more economic development. This enhances the livelihood of the people as well."

According to Ploumen the Netherlands has unique expertise in this field as government, knowledge centres and businesses work together closely.

Severe floods in 2010 and 2011

In 2010 and 2011 Colombia was hit by several severe floods which caused a lot of damage. At the personal invitation of the Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, Dutch flood prevention experts assisted in the development of strategies to decrease the frequency of flooding and restore the river ecosystem.

The collaboration between Colombia and the Netherlands led to the establishment of the Colombian Netherlands Water Partnership.

At the moment, the Corporacion Autonoma Regional del Valle del Cauca - regional authority, supported by a consortium of Dutch experts, led by Dutch-based consultancy firm Arcadis, works on a master plan for the Cauca area based on the Room for the River concept

Special facility to deploy experts

Last year the Dutch government established a special facility to deploy Disaster Risk Reduction teams to combat and prevent water-related disasters worldwide.Such teams are formed by experts from industry, research institutes and public authorities.

At location of the disaster hit areas the team works closely together with local authorities to develop a strategy to limit the impact of future water-related disasters.

Recent deployments of DRR-teams include Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Uruguay, Senegal, Pakistan, Ireland, Lebanon, Serbia, Albania.

Source: Dutch Water Sector


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