How the Dutch Reclaimed Land From the Sea
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The Netherlands is unlike any other country on Earth. What sets the Netherlands apart from every other country isn't its size, it's the fact that 17% of the area of the country was once in the sea. Turning the sea into land is no easy feat, but it's something that the Dutch have been doing for centuries. Not only have they expanded the territory of the Netherlands, but they've also created a system that protects the country from flooding and storms.

Learn about how the Dutch managed to reclaim land from the sea on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Quince. I don't think most people would consider me the most stylish guy. I don't really see the point in spending a ton of money to try to be fashionable. But with Quince, I can get high-end versatile pieces at prices that I can actually afford. All Quince items are priced 50-80% less than similar brands.

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There's an old saying in real estate that you should buy land because nobody's making any more of it. And that's mostly true, but it's not totally true. You can actually make more land, it's just really difficult and expensive to do. Reclaiming land is something that's been done in many places around the world, albeit usually on a pretty small scale. This will often just be reclaiming land the size of a park or maybe an airport or a housing development.

This is usually done by moving topsoil, silt, or sand, piling it up, and then building stuff on top of it. That, of course, is a vast oversimplification, but that is the rough method for how it's done. Land reclamation in the Netherlands has been done at a much larger scale and in a totally different way. To understand what the Dutch have done, we need to understand the Netherlands' geography.

The first important thing to know about the geography of the Netherlands is that the country is really flat. And it isn't just flat, it's flat with about 50% of the country at, near, or below sea level. Much of this has been caused by agriculture over the centuries due to a phenomenon called peatland subsidence. Peatland subsidence occurs when peat-rich soils, which are naturally waterlogged, are drained for agriculture or developed.

As the water is removed, the peat becomes exposed to oxygen, leading to oxidation, decomposition, and compaction. This process causes the land to shrink and sink over time, sometimes by several centimeters per year. In the Netherlands, centuries of peat draining for farming and urban expansion have led to widespread land subsidence, making many areas that were once above sea level now at or below sea level.

Another important fact is that the Netherlands has approximately 450 kilometers or 280 miles of coastline along the North Sea, making it highly vulnerable to storm surges. And finally, the Netherlands is the drainage basin for several major European rivers. The Rhine River, the Meuse River, and the Scheldt River are three of these large rivers. These rivers create a dense delta system emptying into the North Sea.

Seasonal high river discharges from rainfall or snowmelt can cause flooding, especially in the winter and spring. So you have a very low area with lots of water coming in in the form of rivers and potentially a lot of water coming in from the North Sea in the event of a storm. Historically, much of what is now the Netherlands was a soggy mix of marshes, peat bogs, and flood-prone river deltas.

At this time, the Netherlands had a large inland sea known as the Zuiderzee. As early as 500 BC, settlers built terps, or artificial mounds, to raise homes and farmland above flood levels. These were small-scale efforts by Frisian and other coastal communities in the region. The Romans, who occupied southern parts of the region, introduced basic hydraulic engineering, such as ditches and small embankments, to drain wetlands for agriculture.

As the population grew in the 9th century, communities began constructing primitive dikes, which were just earthen walls to protect farmlands from tides and river floods. These early dikes were often breached, but they marked the start of proactive water control. Starting in the 11th century, the Dutch dug peat for fuel, inadvertently lowering the land as it dried and compacted. This made flooding even worse, requiring even better defenses.

Larger dikes created the first polders, which was land reclaimed by draining water from behind the dikes. At the time, this process was labor-intensive, using shovels and buckets to dig drainage ditches. It was during the 13th century that the Dutch wooden shoe or klompen was first created. The reason for the use of wooden shoes was because of the water. Unlike leather or cloth shoes that would rot when they got wet, wooden shoes simply held up better.

To coordinate efforts, local watershapa, or water boards, emerged in around 1250. These democratic bodies, among the oldest democratic bodies in the world, saw dike maintenance and water management, spreading costs and expertise to localities to coordinate efforts. And to all my Dutch-speaking listeners out there, I apologize for the pronunciation.

The introduction of windmills in the 1400s revolutionized drainage. Initially used for grinding grain, they were adapted to power scoop wheels and Archimedes screws lifting water from polders into canals. The Kinderdijk windmills, built in the 1740s, were based on earlier designs and are a famous example. If you ever want to see authentic Dutch windmills, Kinderdijk is by far the best place to do so.

It's located just outside the city of Rotterdam, and it's easy to reach by water taxi from the city. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The 17th century and the Dutch Golden Age really kicked Dutch water management into high gear. The Netherlands became wealthy from trade, fueling ambitious reclamation projects. Merchants and cities funded these efforts to expand arable land. The Beamster Polder, completed in 1612, was such a landmark.

A lake north of Amsterdam was drained using 43 windmills, turning it into fertile farmland. It was a model of precision with geometric layouts that are still visible today. I actually visited the Beamster Polder several years ago and was shocked at how similar it was to my home state of Wisconsin. There's a thriving dairy industry there and the similarities were kind of shocking. The Beamster Polder was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

The thing with polders is that while they provide land for agriculture, it isn't something you can just create and then forget. Polders need constant maintenance because they're under constant threat of flooding. Water needs to be pumped constantly and in the event of a storm, they may have to pump a lot of water. Windmills grew larger and more efficient over time, often grouped in gangs to lift water in stages.

By the year 1700, over 3,000 windmills were operating across the Netherlands. The 19th century brought steam pumps, which didn't rely on wind. The first major steam-powered project was the Haarlemmermeer, which was pumped dry from 1840 to 1852. It was a 170-square-kilometer lake drained by three massive pumping stations. The crukiest pumping station built in 1849 was one of the largest steam engines ever built.

If you've ever flown into Amsterdam, you've been there because this is literally the location of the Schiphol airport. Steam pumps allowed deeper drainage, tackling areas that were previously too wet or too low. There is at least one steam pump still in operation today. The Woda pumping station has a steam pump built in 1920, and while it isn't one of the primary pumps anymore, it is still used if they need extra pumping power in a pinch.

The Wauda Pumping Station is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a growing population and shrinking farmland, and reclamation became a national priority. The national government took a more active role in funding infrastructure. Canals were widened and dikes were reinforced with stone and brick. The 20th century saw industrialization and electrification, which increased polar creation and land reclamation.

This era saw the Netherlands undertake some of its most ambitious projects, fundamentally reshaping its landscape and reinforcing its reputation as a global leader in hydraulic engineering. The Zuiderzee had long been a source of both economic opportunity and danger as storms routinely breached dikes and flooded farmlands. Plans to tame it had been floated since the 17th century, but it wasn't until the catastrophic flood of 1916 that the government committed to action.

Engineer Cornelius Lely's vision first proposed in 1891 gained traction. It was to enclose the Zuiderzee with a massive dam and drain parts of it for new land. Construction of the Afsluitdijk began in 1927, a 32-kilometer marvel of concrete and clay that stretched from North Holland to Friesland. This is also one of the top attractions in the Netherlands if you ever get a chance. It truly is a wonder of engineering.

Completed in 1932, it turned the saltwater Zuiderzee into the freshwater IJsselmeer, a lake that could be controlled and then partially reclaimed. This wasn't just a defensive move, it was also an offensive one aiming to create more space for agriculture and resettlement. Reclamation of the IJsselmeer began as soon as the Afseldijk was completed. Then came the 1953 North Sea Flood, a disaster that redefined Dutch water management.

On the night of January 31st, a storm surge overwhelmed the dikes in the southwest, drowning over 1,800 people and flooding 9% of the nation's farmland. This shock spurred the Delta Plan, an audacious response to protect the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt Delta. Rather than simply rebuilding higher walls, the Dutch engineered a flexible interconnected system of dams, sluices, and storm surge barriers known as the Delta Works.

Construction spanned decades from 1958 to 1997, with standout features like the Ooster Schelderkering, a 9-kilometer barrier completed in 1986. Unlike the Afsluitdijk, this wasn't a solid wall. It was a movable gate that could close during storms but stay open to preserve the tidal ecosystem. The creation of the Delta works and the Afsluitdijk in the 20th century also saw an overhaul of the Dutch approach to water control.

Pumping stations grew more efficient, often running on diesel or electricity, and were paired with an intricate canal system to manage both drainage and irrigation. All of the reclaimed polders, however, brought new challenges. Subsidence meant that some sank as much as six meters below sea level, requiring constant pumping to keep them dry.

Today, the Netherlands is not only larger but better fortified against the sea. Its water system is a blend of hard infrastructure and adaptive strategy poised to face the 21st century. However, the Dutch system of water management isn't finished. In fact, it can never really be over. The Epsilou Dijk is over 90 years old now and is undergoing a major upgrade to handle higher sea levels and more extreme weather.

Started in recent years, it's expected to continue into the late 2020s. And the project involves raising and strengthening the dike, adding new sluices to manage water discharge, and installing massive pumps to move water into the North Sea, even when tides resist. The Netherlands as we know it today wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Dutch system of water management. That isn't just hyperbole. That is a very literal truth.

And I'm not just referring to the 17% of the country's land that was reclaimed from the sea. A 2007 study found that without the protective barriers, pumps, and dikes that are in place, 60% of the country would be underwater during high tide. And during a major storm, that percentage would be even higher. And that means if the zombie apocalypse should ever happen, the Netherlands is probably not the place you want to be.

Because if the pumps ever stop working, most of the country will be gone. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Okun and Cameron Kiefer. Today's review comes from listener Hal High over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write, I have no idea. I'm a kid. I somehow finished all the episodes.

Well, thanks, Hal. First of all, welcome to the Completionist Club. And you managed to do it the same way everybody else does it. You just download it and listen to one episode at a time. Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostogram, you too can have it right on the show.