Because of the ongoing period of drought in the Netherlands, and after the advice of the National Water Coordination Committee, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management has switched to the so called KWA scenario (‘Klimaatbestendige Wateraanvoer’).
Namely, it was decided to adjust the lock passage regime in IJmuiden to reduce saltwater entrance from the North Sea Canal into the Amsterdam Rhine Canal.
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Thus, the Port of Amsterdam started the optimisation of the passage process, from Thursday 26 July 2018. This means that the Port will try to carry out each lock passage with as full a lock as possible and limit the filling of empty locks where possible.
To optimise the lock passages, the Port will apply a maximum waiting time for both the Middensluis and the Noordersluis locks of 1.5 hours as a result of the measure.
This measure aims to a positive contribution to the fragile balance between fresh and salt water in the Amsterdam Rhine Canal.
Earlier this month, the Port of Amsterdam had warned about the possibility of a special passage regime due to drought. Namely, the Dutch National Water Distribution Committee issued a request for measure scenarios, with the aim of limiting saltwater intrusion via the locks at IJmuiden as a result of the drought in the Netherlands.