Room for the River: delivering integrated river basin management in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article describes how the governance arrangements of the 2.2 billion Euro water safety programme Room for the River are enabling a transition towards integrated river basin management in the Netherlands. We observe that in terms of integrating multiple objectives and spatial scales, the programme design and multi-level governance processes in the programme have enabled the establishment of integrated plans and designs. We conclude that Room for the River plays an important role in a transition to integrated river basin management in the Netherlands through practical implementation of the strategic policy vision for integrated water management. Also, through application of a mixed centralized–decentralized governance approach, the programme has tackled governance pitfalls related to centralized planning approaches that previously impeded integrated water management. Although several of the governance lessons of the programme are being adopted by, for example, the Delta Programme, we have identified a risk that continuity of the newly introduced governance approach may be lost when the Room for the River programme is completed in 2015.