Assessing the degree of preservation of landscape, natural and cultural–historical values in river dike reinforcement planning in the Netherlands

The Dutch river district is highly valued for its landscape, natural and cultural–historical elements (also called LNC values). According to the current Dutch policy on river dike reinforcements, these values should be safeguarded in planning and executing river dike reinforcement projects by following the ‘selective smart design strategy’. This paper presents an audit model, consisting of 20 modules, assessing the extent to which LNC values are taken into account in the planning process. The model was tested on eight projects and appeared to fit the objectives very well. The assignment of weighting constants used to interconnect the individual modules, however, would be improved if all parties involved could achieve consensus on this issue. The test results showed that in five of the eight projects examined, LNC values were sufficiently taken into consideration. Aspects that were insufficiently taken into account concerned, in particular, fauna surveys, valuation of LNC elements and effects valuation. Moreover, LNC values were often restored or compensated for, rather than preserved. Large differences were found between individual river dike reinforcement projects. The method can also be applied in river dike reinforcement plans in other countries. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.