Man-Made Lowlands: History of Water Management and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands ed. by G. P. van de Ven

Abstract

210 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Man-Made Lowlands: History of Water Management and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands, 2d rev. ed. Edited by G. P. van de Ven. Utrecht: Uitgeverij Matrijs, 1994. Pp. 293; illustrations, maps. FI 79.90. For a historian of water management, the Netherlands is a para­ dise; 25 percent of the surface of the country is below average sea level, and without protection 65 percent would be flooded regularly. The Netherlands can only survive by a massive system to control floods and maintain water levels. It is not astonishing that a relatively rich country can afford such a system (as opposed to a country like Bangladesh). However, since a major part of the country’s wealth is produced by the lowest areas, the historic development of this situa­ tion seems astonishing: how could such a highly complex technologi­ cal and organizational system be created with so few resources? Contrary to the popular saying that “God created the land, except for the Netherlands, which was created by the Dutchmen them­ selves,” the Dutch did not create their land, but, as the essays in this volume show, almost destroyed it. In the early Middle Ages, the northern and western parts of the Netherlands were peat areas and tidal salt marshes. As the peat was dug, to be used as a source of energy and in some coastal areas to produce salt, lakes came into existence and tended to grow by caving in. Moreover, peat bogs were reclaimed for agriculture, which meant that the land was drained. But draining peat bog interrupted the natural growth of the soil, the peat was more vulnerable to oxidization, and the dry peat set. Therefore, in order to protect a reclaimed area, an almost continuous process of improving the drainage system was needed and measures had to be taken against the growing lakes. Drainage canals were lengthened to reach open water with a low level, dikes and dams had to be built, and sluices and windmill technology were introduced and improved. Similar problems occurred in the tidal marshlands, due to a rise of the mean sea level and population growth. Public organizations developed to maintain these water-manage­ ment systems. Starting in the 12th century, local water boards were in charge, but when the problems grew, regional water boards with greater authority were needed to create larger-scale solutions. From the end of the 16th century, first private and then public bodies aggressively dealt more with water problems. Many successful at­ tempts were made to drain lakes, and some land was gained from the sea. Initially, these activities were usually undertaken by entrepre­ neurs rather than public organizations. In the 17th and 18th centu­ ries, most small lakes and the shallowest tidal marshlands were re­ claimed. However, the large lakes and the sea arms were too risky for these entrepreneurs. In the 19th century, the government became actively involved. In order to play this new role, it gradually created a large professional organization to design and control hydraulic TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 211 works. In the 20th century, the enormous reclamation works of the Zuider Zee were managed by this government body, as was the cre­ ation of the large “Delta works” that protect the Scheldt/Maas/Rhine delta against floods. Probably due to the groups that sponsored it, the book has a strange mix of focuses: on the one hand, it is the history of man-made lowlands in the Netherlands, while on the other, it is a more general history of water management in the Netherlands, as well as a history of hydraulic engineers from the Netherlands. As a result, the main story (presumably, man-made lowlands) is often interrupted by dis­ tracting tales of Dutch hydraulic engineers abroad and water manage­ ment in the higher parts of the country (which is completely different from water management in the lowlands). The book could have been much stronger if its focus of analysis had been, not water manage­ ment in the Netherlands, but water management in the lowlands of northwestern Europe. As a nation, the Netherlands was only created at the end of the 16th century, but in this work...