Dutch Solution for Flood-Resilient Wisbech

Dutch water experts will help Wisbech in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England, with the development of a new plan for flood-resilient residential area.

Deltares, Royal HaskoningDHV and Nelen & Schuurmans will be working with the English drinking water company Anglian Water to create a new, safe and sustainable, residential area as part of the Wisbech2020 initiative.

They propose an innovative approach that gets stakeholders involved from the early stages of the project. For this approach, called TRICO, they already received an English award last year.

Dana Stuparu, Deltares project manager: “This project is a very nice example of a truly integrated approach to flood risk management for the town of Wisbech, in which all stakeholders will join forces to combine work on water safety with urban development. From Deltares, we will provide expert input from a wider perspective, and we will contribute to the translation of hydraulics to risk and opportunity metrics.”

There are plans to develop a new urban area in Wisbech with approximately 10,000 homes. This area will potentially reduce the population pressure on the nearby city of Cambridge.

However, the proposed new area is situated in a flood-prone zone with strict building regulations. Permission is given only for a sustainable, innovative approach. With this ambition, Wisbech turned to the Netherlands to jointly explore possible flood reduction solutions.

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