Hydro-ecological relations in the Delta Waters

Before human interference in the Delta of the 1300th-West Netherlands.
the hydro-ecal0gioal relations +n the watexs of this Delta were taken
very much far granted. As a result rzf the man-made changes, thbe
natural relations disappeared. The constmction df the Delta Works
completely altered the face of the Delta. Thie was not the first
occasion on which the relations between the waters of the Delta had
been affected. Take for example the construction of the Sloe Dam and
Kreekrak I)rug in the latter half of the 19th ceatury, which resulted in
the loss of the coneection between the Eastern aad Wsatern Scheldt.
Nevertheless, the Delta ia its present fow ig largely the brainchild
of hydraulic agineerr; of the lattez half of the present centuq.
The origtnal Delta Project treated the Delta as a single entity, but
purely from the point of view of safety and water control. At that
time the integral approach of eool6giaal Interests had yet to be
developadd Although ecological considerations have gained in
impoltanoe over the years, the present compameutalizatlon ef the
Delta is still to s great extent the product of the original Delta
Project.
The completion of the water management infrastmcrure of the Delta
marks, for the tfm being at least, the end of an ere of major
hydradie projects in the Delta. But while these works were being
carried ant, a new era had already begun; one which centred on careful
supervision apd ~esponsib-le managwent of the newly-created systems.