In short:
Global Goal
The reclamation of the heathland and the canalisation had more consequences. When you consider that a drop of water that had fallen in Germany used to take more than 16 days to reach the Ijssel River, and now covers that distance in 9 hours, you realise that this does not help counteract dehydration and flooding. The owners of the Lankheet estate, who restored part of the historic flood meadow system in 1999, already realised this at the end of the last century. The flood meadows act as a sort of ‘sponge’ for the storage, retention and gradual draining of water. The system contributes to a climate-proof landscape and to the promotion of biodiversity in this way. It also contributes to many other goals: combating dehydration, restoring nature, realising water storage, and making historical heritage accessible again for hikers. The local seeps proved insufficient to achieve these goals, so a plan was devised to use water from the Buurserbeek on the meadows. This water would be purified in reed basins and then returned to the Buurserbeek through the old water system on the estate. The water takes silt with it, which provides natural fertilisation and is beneficial to soil organisms. This will have several positive results: the storage and purification of surface water, the restoration of nature next to the stream, the production of biomass for sustainable energy and a recreationally interesting environment.
A recent success was the creation of a new course for a large part of the Buurserbeek. The embankments have been removed here. The stream is starting to resemble the Geul in the south of Limburg; it removes sand from its own banks and is becoming shallower. The groundwater level rises as a result, and the landscape can ‘flow along’ at high water levels. This helps combat dehydration. Several compensatory projects could be carried out on the estate because of the recent construction of the new N18 motorway. These projects mainly consisted of restoring damaged nature. The estate has one goal: not wasting a single drop of water anymore.
