Integrating Water Management and Spatial Planning

A close connection is emerging between water management and spatial planning in the Netherlands as a result of a new acceptance of water on land, and the European Unionʹs recent emphasis on managing water at the scale of entire river basins. We review Dutch and European trends in water management and identify four potential approaches to integrating water management and spatial planning in the Netherlands or elsewhere, depending on whether we adopt a regulatory or more strategic approach to planning, and whether we make water policy for areas defined by their water related functions (like watersheds or coastlines) or incorporate water issues into policy for broader socio cultural regions.