Coping with climate change in Amsterdam – a watercycle perspective Jan Peter van der Hoek, Paulien Hartog and Eilard Jacobs ABSTRACT Amsterdam has the ambition to develop as a competitive and sustainable European metropolis. Water and Amsterdam are closely related, and water and climate change are closely related. Therefore, to be sustainable and economically strong, it is necessary for Amsterdam to anticipate the changes in climate that will take place in the Netherlands during the coming decades. Waternet, the watercycle company of Amsterdam and surroundings, has built a response strategy focusing on water management to contribute to the aim of making Amsterdam ‘waterproof’ for the next decades. This response strategy has two building blocks: adaptation and mitigation. With respect to adaptation the focus is on safety against flooding, discharge of rainwater without nuisance for the public, ecological healthy water in compliance with the European Water Framework Directive, a reliable drinking water supply in compliance with the Dutch Drinking Water Regulations and the European Drinking Water Directive, and an efficient and effective wastewater treatment in compliance with the European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. With respect to mitigation the focus is on energy recovery from the watercycle and nutrient recovery from wastewater. The strategy is carried out in close cooperation with partners on a regional level and a national level. Jan Peter van der Hoek (corresponding author) Paulien Hartog Eilard Jacobs Waternet, Korte Ouderkerkerdijk 7, 1096 AC Amsterdam, The Netherlands E-mail: jan.peter.van.der.hoek@waternet.nl Jan Peter van der Hoek Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands Key words | adaptation, energy, mitigation, water, water management, watercycle INTRODUCTION Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. It has an important economic function, and is characterized by inten- sive spatial dynamics. Urban densification is an important development. According to the vision of the authorities of the city of Amsterdam (City of Amsterdam a), Amster- dam has to be a strong and sustainable city in 2040. Amsterdam continues to develop further as the core city of an internationally competitive and sustainable European metropolis. To be a sustainable city, it is important to antici- pate climate change. In the Netherlands, the KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorolo- gical Institute) has developed four climate change scenarios based on IPCC reports (KNMI ). Variables in these scenarios are the extent of temperature rise, 1 W C or 2 W C in 2050, and the change in wind pattern in Western Europe. In all four scenarios, it is expected that the temperature will rise, resulting in milder winters and warmer summers. The winters will become wetter with more extreme precipi- tation while the number of extreme rain events in the summer will increase, accompanied by a decrease in rain days. The sea level will rise with an absolute rise in 2050 between 15 and 35 cm, an effect that is enhanced by land subsidence in the western part of the Netherlands. Climate change will also affect the city of Amsterdam. Water is pre- sent everywhere in and around Amsterdam. Amsterdam is surrounded by water and is partly located below sea level. Amsterdam has organized its water management very well but, looking to climate change and the effects, is Amsterdam ‘waterproof’ for the future? Waternet, the first watercycle company in the Nether- lands (van der Hoek et al. ), is responsible for the water management in Amsterdam. The activities of Water- net concern drinking water supply, sewerage, wastewater treatment, surface water management, groundwater 61 © IWA Publishing 2014 Journal of Water and Climate Change | 05.1 | 2014 doi: 10.2166/wcc.2013.060 Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/jwcc/article-pdf/5/1/61/374961/61.pdf by guest on 16 June 2020