Abstract
In order to prevent and reduce water nuisance and flooding, it should be possible to modify water systems and to prevent activities that increase the risk of water nuisance and flooding. The management of water systems needs a set of public law instruments which also enable the actual performance of
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that management. These public law instruments are provided by the Water Act (Waterwet), the Water Boards Act (Waterschapswet) and the relevant rules and regulations based on these two Acts. This book focuses on the question as to what extent water system managers are able to perform their water assignment using the public law instruments provided by this legislation, and how they can use these instruments in an effective manner. In addition, an analysis is made of possible problems in using these instruments and how they might be solved. The main conclusion of this study is that the water system managers have sufficient and adequate public law instruments at their disposal to carry out their management assignment. For the active management assignment, the Water Act provides for an effective project procedure regarding construction or modification of certain water management structures, which even allows the Provincial Executive to take decisions if municipal bodies refuse to cooperate. If the construction, modification or management of water management structures requires the cooperation of any third parties, the the water system managers have the authority to enforce this cooperation imposing or invoking an obligation to tolerate. When the third party does not want to cooperate they can use the instrument of expropriation. In order to carry out their consolidating management assignment, the water system managers are authorised to regulate the use of water systems in order to prevent nuisance and flooding. They can therefore adopt a system of exemptions and permits or general rules that apply to activities that may cause the standards to be exceeded. Although the existing public law instruments are generally adequate, this book also includes some recommendations on the subject of legal certainty, efficiency and transparency to improve these instruments to carry out the water management assignment. Carrying out the water management assignment does not just require public law instruments to be adequate, but also that these instruments are actually used. Therefore, it is significant that the division of tasks and powers between the various government authorities that are involved in the water management assignment is clear and that these authorities bring their relevant policies into line. The main recommendations of this study focus on the recognition of the water system manager’s own responsibility to carry out his management assignment and on giving them the necessary public law instruments to actually exercise that responsibility. Other recommendations include: Recognition of the provincial authorities’ crucial role when bringing municipalities’ and Water Boards’ policies in line with their use of public law instruments, and introduction of a strict division between the water system managers’ power to establish generally binding instructions and the municipalities’ power to give generally binding instructions pursuant to the Spatial Planning Act.
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