Share My City is an initiative that not only makes it possible to store water on private property, but which is also easy to implement. A website has been created which provides information to citizens about what they can do on their land and gives municipalities advice on the most effective ways to use private spaces and available funds. Witteveen+Bos will be responsible for rolling out the Share My City programme for De Baronie water association. The association consists of the municipalities of Breda, Etten-Leur, Zundert, Rucphen as well as the municipalities of Alphen-Chaam, Baarle-Nassau and Gilze en Rijen. The province of North Brabant is contributing to the initiative in the form of a subsidy.

Heavy rainfall and longer periods of warm weather and drought are causing more and more problems. The water systems in the Netherlands primarily focus on draining water, which means that not enough water is retained. Among other things, this leads to water shortages for the agriculture sector and nature. Elevated sandy ground in Brabant is particularly susceptible to this lack of water, due to the low levels of ground water. Farmers cannot irrigate and nature reserves and urban green areas are drying up. We are also seeing more flooding in urban areas due to heavy rainfall. There is insufficient public space to be able to remove the water. The De Baronie water association wants to make better use of private space to retain water. The association is joining forces with Witteveen+Bos to further develop the Share My City programme for the area.

+ jacobiene.ritsema@witteveenbos.com