Zuiderzee
Reclaiming land
Causes
A history of devastating floods
Although a system of protective dykes was already in place around the low lying areas of the Netherlands, they were not enough to withstand huge and sudden storm surges. In 1287 the St. Lucia's Flood, this flood killed over 50,000 people and resulted in the creation of a new bay, called Zuiderzee ("South Sea"), formed by floodwaters that had inundated a large area of farmland.
Management
Reclaiming the Zuiderzee
For hundreds of years following the creation of this new lake, the Dutch worked to push back the water of the Zuiderzee, building dykes and creating polders (dry-land farming plots). Canals and pumps were then used to drain the land and to keep it dry and so much of the land was reclaimed from the water.
Storms and floods in 1916 prompted the Dutch to start a major project to reclaim the Zuiderzee. In 1932 a huge, 30km long dyke was constructed to close up the lake, turning it into a freshwater lake that could be further drained to reclaim land. Since then, an entire province (state) has been declared.
Since the 13th century, the Dutch have been innovating flood management strategies and technologies such as the dyke shown above.
Water-pumping windmills were an early technology used by the Dutch to drain swampy areas which were below sea level and create polders surrounded by dikes.
Zuiderzee dyke
Reclaimed land
The diagram on the left shows the amount of land which has been 'reclaimed' due to the construction of the 'Closing Dyke', along with the formation of polders.