Medieval Dutch Hydraulic Engineering

• European rainfall, thick, wet soil, iron–shod plough and oxen
• Field rotation, crop, fallow, manure, population increase
• Horse-collar, increased horse population, cavalry, stirrups

Hydraulic Engineering in Holland

• Limited land for farming, starvation, disease and warfare
• Holland below sea level, hydraulic engineering to create farmland
• Drainage of marshland using canals
• Reciprocal effect: draining one area led to flooding in another, draining led to lowering of land further below sea level
• Simple technological developments and unexpected consequences

Coordination and Control

• 13th century: dikes (embankments to hold in water), dams (blocking rivers), sluices (canal with gates), and drainage canals
• 1100 and 1300 hundreds of dikes and dams
• Excluding external water meant more flooding
• Polders: units of land at the same water level with shared drainage system, labor and capital intensive
• System of autonomous water boards, predated government
• No central co-ordination, taxes and public works local
• The water boards were responsible for: regular inspection of facilities, recommending repair, supervising and organizing labour and materials, collecting taxes, dispute resolution
• Management of problem, unintended consequences, technological fix, environmental changes