Editing Polder (section)

==Netherlands==
{{anchor|Polders and the Netherlands}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2021}}
[[File:Gemaal de Leyens.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Pumping station in [[Zoetermeer]], [[Netherlands]]: The polder lies lower than the surrounding water on the other side of the dike. The [[Archimedes' screw]]s are clearly visible.]]

The [[Netherlands]] is frequently associated with polders, as its engineers became noted for developing techniques to drain wetlands and make them usable for agriculture and other development. This is illustrated by the saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands".<ref>Cf. Forrest Clingerman, Brian Treanor, Martin Drenthen, David Utsler, ''Interpreting Nature: The Emerging Field of Environmental Hermeneutics'', Fordham University Press, 1 sep. 2013. The sentence stems from a poem by Archibald Pitcairn (1652–1713): ''Tellurem fecere dei, sua littora Belgae''. C.D. van Strien, ''British Travellers in Holland During the Stuart Period: Edward Browne and John Locke as Tourists in the United Provinces'', Leiden 1993, 164.</ref>

The [[Dutch people|Dutch]] have a long history of reclamation of marshes and fenland, resulting in some 3,000 ''polders''<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/rws/waterinnovatiebron/cgi-bin/toonlijst.pl?config=config&var=volgnr&val=1&layout=index-forceframe&confignr=1&menu=1067260347&menuitem=1120115781| publisher=Rijkswaterstaat| title=''Kijk naar de geschiedenis''| access-date=2008-01-21}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> nationwide. By 1961, about half of the country's land, {{convert|6800|sqmi|order=flip||}}, was reclaimed from the sea.<ref name="ley196110">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Ley
 |first=Willy
 |date=October 1961
 |title=The Home-Made Land
 |department=For Your Information
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v19n06_1961-08#page/n65/mode/1up
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=92–106
}}</ref>{{Better source|date=July 2021}} About half the total surface area of ''polders'' in northwest Europe is in the Netherlands. The first [[embankment dam|embankments]] in Europe were constructed in Roman times. The first polders were constructed in the 11th century. The oldest extant polder is the [[Achtermeer]] polder, from 1533.

As a result of flooding disasters, [[Water board (The Netherlands)|water board]]s called ''waterschap'' (when situated more inland) or ''hoogheemraadschap'' (near the sea, mainly used in the [[Holland]] region)<ref>{{cite web| title=waterschap|url = http://www.waterschappen.nl/mijn-waterschap.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102142234/http://www.waterschappen.nl/|archive-date=2012-11-02}}</ref><ref>Reh, W., Steenbergen, C., Aten, D. 2007. Sea of Land, The polder as an experimental atlas of Dutch landscape architecture. 344 pp, Uitgeverij Architectura & Natura. {{ISBN|9789071123962}}</ref> were set up to maintain the integrity of the water defences around polders, maintain the waterways inside a polder, and control the various water levels inside and outside the polder. Water boards hold separate elections, levy taxes, and function independently from other government bodies. Their function is basically unchanged even today. As such, they are the oldest democratic institutions in the country. The necessary cooperation among all ranks to maintain polder integrity gave its name to the Dutch version of [[Third Way (centrism)|third-way politics]]—the ''[[Polder Model]]''.

The [[North Sea flood of 1953|1953 flood disaster]] prompted a new approach to the design of dikes and other water-retaining structures, based on an acceptable probability of overflowing. Risk is defined as the product of probability and consequences. The potential damage in lives, property, and rebuilding costs is compared with the potential cost of water defences. From these calculations follows an acceptable flood risk from the sea at one in 4,000–10,000&nbsp;years, while it is one in 100–2,500&nbsp;years for a river flood. The particular established policy guides the Dutch government to improve flood defences as new data on threat levels become available.

Major Dutch polders and the years they were laid dry include [[Beemster]] (1609–1612), [[Schermer]] (1633–1635), and [[Haarlemmermeerpolder]] (1852). Polders created as part of the [[Zuiderzee Works]] include [[Wieringermeerpolder]] (1930), [[Noordoostpolder]] (1942) and [[Flevopolder]] (1956–1968)