Wet Feet — Sabine Rovers

A local news reporter at the flooded banks of the river Waal.

More than half of The Netherlands will flood if the levees break.

Inhabitants of Wamel stand at the flooded banks of the river Waal.

A new route will have to be considered for this cyclist going off to work.

The 213-metre-high KNMI-mast in Cabauw measuring meteorological information for the Dutch weather and climate.

The muskrat catcher with a dead muskrat, a rodent that damages the dikes with its destructive burrowing.

The dike worker, preventing the 16,000 km (a length from here to Australia) of dikes from flooding.

The lock and weir complex at Hagestein, one of the three complexes that together control a large part of the water management of The Netherlands.

The fish ladder provides a way for migrating fish to get around obstacles, like dams.

The lock keepers of the Noordersluis, the gateway to the North Sea Canal in Ijmuiden. It is constantly monitored with about twenty cameras so they don't miss anything.

A PC used to control the wave machines in the experimentation basin of the Hydro-hall at Deltares.

The supercomputer of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), the BullX B500. It is essential in calculating weather forecasts and doing climatic research.

An inhabitant of Wamel collecting the debris from the rough weather conditions of the past few days.

A recreational drone flyer seeking some excitement after the water in the rivers has risen excessively due to heavy rainfall and meltwater from the Alps.

A triaxial cel containing a soil sample from the dikes to test the strength of the soil in the geotechnical laboratory at Deltares.

The geotechnical laboratory at Deltares, where they develop innovative insights to make living in deltas safe, sustainable and economically successful.

The Oosterschelde storm surge barrier in Zeeland is the largest of the 13 ambitious Delta Works to protect The Netherlands from flooding from the North Sea.

The view from the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier in Zeeland.

55% of The Netherlands is prone to flooding if water levels keep on rising and storms become more severe due to climate change. What are we doing to prevent ourselves from getting wet feet? Through which technological innovations are we shaping the land we live in? And are we able to tame it or will nature eventually take over and wash us all away mercilessly?

Luckily the Dutch are famous for their water management skills. From the early middle ages we have reclaimed and defended our land from the sea. Water is in our genes. However this time it's different, in a way it is paradoxical that we are fighting against a natural force that we have now made even more powerful ourselves by contributing to the rapidly changing climate.

How are we dealing with the rising water levels and their consequences? ‘Wet Feet’ depicts the typical Dutchman and his determination to keep our little low lands dry.