Sponge Scapes case study NL 01

The Chaamse beken area is part of the Northern Temperate Atlantic ecological region which streches from southwestern and northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and western Denmark. Most of the region's forests have been converted to fields or pastures, and its once-extensive wetlands have mostly been drained and filled for agriculture, as is the case in Chaamse Beken. For this case study, the sponge function is mainly based on the management of aquifer/groundwater recharge. Local stakeholders are particularly interested in the possibilities to prevent/reduce floods and droughts due to previous extreme events in the area. For this case study, long-term data and high-end groundwater and surface water modeling tools are already in place to assess the overall sponge function potential of this area.