We have regional watermanagment agencies looking out for the water heights in their regions. There are many electrical pumps all around the low areas and polders (regained land below sealevel). This UNESCO listed steam operated plant is basically kept on standby for when "shit hits the van" or to compensate quickly. The volume this pump can handle is that of many electrical pumps once it operates at capacity.
Basically NL is one big irrigation system with many electrical pumps. A lot of closed off bodies of water, canals, streams, lakes, damned off sea inlets,sloten (irrigation canals) etc etc. These are connected trough locks and pumps, so ships can travel and water height can be managed per region. Think "Communicating barrels". You will never be far from water anywhere in NL, there will atleast be a canal or sloot "irrigation ditch" within 5km anywhere in the country.
Besides from 3 mayor European rivers ending in NL we also have a similar climate as London/UK, so a lot of rain.
With our polders being below sealevel there is a constant need to pump water out (rainwater). At the same time melting water from the northern Alps, rainwater from North east France and south west Germany has to be carried to sea by our rivers.
Example:
I used to live in a River polder:
So basically you collect all the water from your land into an irrigation system, this system is all connected in the polder (reclaimed below sealevel area) the pumps pump it into the minor water system (small rivers, canals, lakes). From here it's pumped into either; one of the main rivers and flows to sea within our diked off river area with floodplanes, or into one of the dammed off sea-inlets from where it's pumped into another or into the sea eventually.
So the NL couldn't really exist as it is without electricity to pump out the excess water? You should divert that water to California. We process sewage and salt water to just make drinking waster.
Do you flood if you have a power outage?
So the NL couldn't really exist as it is without electricity to pump out the excess water?
We used to use wind/windmills back in the days, wich worked fine but took a lot of windmills to maintain.
Do you flood if you have a power outage?
Not for a while, but eventually (months/years) yes, about 40% of our country would permanently flood and another 20% would be tidewater/floodplains/swamps, this includes much of our highly populated"randstad" area including our mayor cities and economic areas, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht.
Our pumping stations do have emergency backup powergenerators and fuel to function for a while in case of calamity.
We dont fuck around with water and the sea cause we know the value of the land and the danger we are under. Hence we have our "waterschappen" - Dutch Waterboards wich originated back in the middle ages.
Sidenote here; Dutch infrastructure and power lines are way better in general then in US. We are a dense populated small nation so we have to be effecient. Power outages are very rare, usually only local (think neighborhoods) and rarely last more the 2-3 hours.
You should divert that water to California. We process sewage and salt water to just make drinking waster.
Think this problem is mainly in southern Cali? (LA, San Diego) Building multi million urban population centres without addequate water supplies nearby is not such a smart plan to start with tbh.
Is this your only swamp draining plant? I would expect every major city should have one of these in case of normal times.