Editing Zuiderzee Works (section)

==Polders==
{{No footnotes|section|date=January 2020}}

===Wieringermeer===
The Wieringermeer, as the first of the envisioned five polders, served as a major testbed for ideas and techniques for the following projects. It is closest to the original concept of the new land being primarily used as agricultural land and it has retained a strong rural character. Four villages eventually were formed in the polder: [[Slootdorp]] (1931), [[Middenmeer]] (1933), [[Wieringerwerf]] (1936), and [[Kreileroord]] (1957).

Local governance presented a new problem. The area was divided among the mainland municipalities according to the boundaries used when it was water-covered. This configuration was not always practical on the ground and unnecessarily split responsibilities among several bodies. The first solution was a form of government called an ''openbaar lichaam'' or "public body", a complicated arrangement which incorporated both the government body in charge of the actual development and an appointed committee responsible for public governance. As the polder became more populated, the demand for representation increased until finally on 1 July 1941, the municipality of [[Wieringermeer]] was established.
[[File:Overstroming van de Wieringmeerpolder. Op 17 april 1945 hebben de Duitsers nog d, Bestanddeelnr 900-3181.jpg|thumb|Flooding of the Wieringermeer following damage to the dykes during World War II]]

On 17 April 1945, in the [[Netherlands in World War II#Final year|closing days]] of [[World War II]], the [[Germany|Wehrmacht]] breached the Wieringermeer dike with explosives to flood the polder and prevent allied advance. No casualties were incurred, but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade as well as all crops. Reconstruction followed quickly, and by the end of 1945 the polder was declared drained again.

=== Noordoostpolder ===
The original 1891 plan called for the largest, southeastern polder to be built after the Wieringermeer, but it was decided in 1932 to give precedence to the northeastern one, which was smaller and therefore considered easier. This would be the '''Noordoostpolder''' (''Northeast-polder''). Due to initial financial difficulties, construction did not begin until 1936. Two dikes, totaling 55&nbsp;km in length, steadily grew in the IJsselmeer, one from [[Lemmer]] in Friesland to the island of [[Urk]], the other from [[Vollenhove]] in [[Overijssel]] to Urk. Construction of these dikes and the necessary pumping stations was disrupted during World War II during the 1940 German conquest of the Netherlands. The encircling dikes were both closed in December 1940, and the pumping stations started draining in early 1941. The Noordoostpolder was considered to be sufficiently drained in September 1942, and the developmental process was started for the 480&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of new land.

The task of building the Noordoostpolder was eased by the earlier experience, the now placid waters of the IJsselmeer, and the mechanisation of the construction process. Machines, sometimes made specifically for the Zuiderzee Works, were increasingly used for this and the final polders. Land usage was much the same as in the Wieringermeer, again focusing on farming. Less fertile areas were designated to be planted as forest land. Land in the polders was state-owned during the entire developmental process. Several years after this was completed, the various plots were distributed among private parties, with priority given to the early pioneers who had been in the polder since the start. Later, farmers from all over the Netherlands became eligible for the remainder. Candidates were put through a selection process before receiving their own pieces of new land.
[[File:Noordoostpolder by Sentinel-2, 2018-06-30.jpg|alt=|thumb|Satellite picture of Noordoostpolder]]
The [[North Sea flood of 1953]] made the government change its priorities. Instead of granting the new land only to farmers selected for their skill, the government granted land to a large number of farmers from the flooded province of [[Zeeland]].

The polder contains two former islands: the glacial [[moraine]] hill of [[Urk]], and the elongated strip of peat land known as [[Schokland]], largely abandoned in the 19th century. Urk was then and is still today a fishing community and it served as a natural construction-island for both dikes as well as a base of operations for the later exploitation of the polder. Both ceased to be islands: Urk on 3 October 1939, when the dike reaching from Lemmer was closed and Schokland when the surrounding water was consequently drained. Both islands stand out in the new land, physically and figuratively. The community of Urk in particular has remained an entity somewhat distinct from the "mainland". It is a separate municipality from the rest of the polder, which was organized as the municipality of Noordoostpolder in 1962. The town of [[Kuinre]] was cut off from the open water, losing businesses and status.

At the heart of the Noordoostpolder, where the three main drainage canals intersect, is the town of [[Emmeloord]] (1943). Planned to be the first and the only major town of the polder, it serves as the local governmental and services center. Ten smaller villages, conceived more as agricultural communities, were planned in a wide circle around Emmeloord, at a distance chosen to be easily covered by  [[bicycle]]. The first settlements were [[Ens (Netherlands)|Ens]], [[Marknesse]] and [[Kraggenburg]] (1949), followed by [[Luttelgeest]] (1950), [[Bant]] (1951), then [[Creil (Netherlands)|Creil]] and [[Rutten, Netherlands|Rutten]] (1953), and finally [[Espel]], [[Tollebeek]], and [[Nagele]] (1956). From Emmeloord three canals carry their water to three pumping stations, the ''Buma'' near Lemmer, the ''Smeenge'' at Vollenhove, and finally the ''Vissering'' in Urk. The first two are electrically powered (though connected to different power-plants), while the latter one has [[Diesel fuel|diesel]] power. Like all pumping stations of the Zuiderzee Works, they are named for individuals who made significant contributions to the project.

=== The Flevolands ===<!-- This section is linked from [[September 13]] -->

====Eastern Flevoland====
[[File:Flevopolder by Sentinel-2, 2018-06-30.jpg|alt=|thumb|Zuidelijk and Oostelijk Flevoland (Southern and Eastern Flevoland)]]
The period following World War II was spent restoring the Wieringermeerpolder and catching up with work on the Noordoostpolder. Soon attention turned towards the next project: Eastern Flevoland (Oostelijk Flevoland), which at 540&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> was the largest of the new polders. In 1950 work commenced on several construction-islands in the middle of the IJsselmeer, the largest of which would be Lelystad-Haven, which initially housed a community of dike-builders.

The experience of the Noordoostpolder had shown that [[groundwater]] from the higher old mainland would flow to the lower new land, causing [[subsidence]] and dehydration in the old land. It was decided to use [[geohydrology]] to detach the new polders from the mainland. A string of peripheral lakes have been left between the two, requiring a much longer dike of {{cvt|90|km}} to encircle the polder.

The plans for a single south-eastern polder were changed to construct two separate polders with a joint hydrological infrastructure. They were divided by a dike in the middle, the ''Knardijk'', which would keep one polder safe should the other be flooded. The two main drainage canals to traverse the dike could be closed by [[weir]]s in such a flooding event. The eastern polder was planned to be the first, and the encircling dike began to take form in 1951. It progressed until the [[North Sea flood of 1953]] struck the south-western Netherlands. Workers and machinery were transferred there for repair work (additional work here was part of the [[Delta Works]]).

Work on Eastern Flevoland resumed in 1954 and the dike was closed on 13 September 1956. The pumping stations started draining the polder that same day, completing the task in June 1957. Three pumping stations were built: the ''[[H. Wortman Pumping Station|Wortman]]'' (diesel powered) at Lelystad-Haven, the ''[[H. J. Lovink Pumping Station|Lovink]]'' near [[Harderwijk]] and the ''Colijn'' (both electrically powered) along the northern dike beside the Ketelmeer. All three were built with extra capacity with the future southern polder in mind.

A new element in the design of this polder was the intention to establish a larger city to serve as a regional centre for all the polders and perhaps the capital of a potential new [[Provinces of the Netherlands|province]]. This city, located in the centre of the reclaimed lands, was developed as [[Lelystad]] (1966), named after the man who had played a crucial role in the design and realisation of the Zuiderzee Works. Other more conventional settlements had already developed by then; Dronten, the local major town, was founded in 1962, followed in 1963 by two smaller satellite villages, Swifterbant and Biddinghuizen. These last three were incorporated into the new municipality of [[Dronten]] on 1 January 1972. Lelystad was large enough to be organized as a separate municipality on 1 January 1980.

Though agriculture was initially the main purpose of the polder, needs of the post-war period changed the design goals of the new polders. Changing agricultural needs and increased motorised mobility meant many farming villages were unnecessary and the number of towns was eventually reduced to two. Work on the village of Larsen was just about to start when it was cancelled. The amount of agricultural land did not increase; it diminished as a result of the building of Lelystad (a city envisioned to eventually house at least 100,000 inhabitants.) By 2005 it had 70,000 residents. In addition, more area was assigned for development as forests and nature reserves, a trend that would continue in the next polder.

====Southern Flevoland ====
Southern Flevoland (Zuidelijk Flevoland) was the fourth polder of the Zuiderzee Works, built adjacent to its larger sibling, Eastern Flevoland. Since its northeastern dike, the aforementioned Knardijk, already existed, only {{cvt|70|km}} of the dike remained to be built. Starting in early 1959, this was finished in October 1967.

Only one pumping station ('gemaal'), the diesel powered ''De Blocq van Kuffeler'', needed to be built because of the hydrological union of the two Flevolands; once the polder was finished it would simply join the previous three in maintaining the water-level of both polders. Before it could do that however the newest ''gemaal'' had to first drain the {{cvt|430|km2}} polder of its water all by itself, completing its job in May 1968.

Due to the geographically favourable location of the southern polder to the heavily urbanised centre of the Netherlands and in particular [[Amsterdam]], the planners devised a design that would include a large new urban area, to be called [[Almere]], in order to relieve the housing shortage and increasing overcrowding on the old land. Almere was to be divided into 3 major settlements, initially; the first, Almere-Haven (1976), situated along the [[Gooimeer]] (one of the peripheral lakes), the second and largest, Almere-Stad (''Almere City'') (1980), which was to fulfil the role of city centre, and the third, Almere-Buiten (1984), to the northeast towards Lelystad.

The area between Lelystad and Almere was designated for heavy industries, but since enough space was still available on the old land for those industries this part of the polder was left alone for the mean time. After only a couple of years this landscape of shallow pools, islets and swamps became a popular resting and foraging area for many species of waterfowl, to the extent that it rapidly turned into a nature reserve of national significance. Although accidental in origin, the ''[[Oostvaardersplassen]]'' as they are known became by the 1970s the definitive destination for this section of the polder.

The centre of the polder most closely resembles the pre-war polders in that it is almost exclusively agricultural. In contrast, the south-eastern part is dominated by extensive forests. It is also home to the only other settlement of the polder, [[Zeewolde]] (1984), again a more conventional town acting as the local centre. Zeewolde became a municipality at the same time as Almere, on 1 January 1984, which in the case of Zeewolde meant that the municipality existed before the town itself, with only farms in the surrounding land to be governed until the town started to grow.

=== Markerwaard ===
Markerwaard was a planned fifth polder that has never been completed. It was intended to build a south-western polder, to be called the [[Markerwaard]], at several times during the project, but other polders took precedence. Parts of it have been built; in 1941 it was decided to begin work on the first section of dike, but the German occupiers stopped construction that same year. This dike originated on [[Marken]], the last of the IJsselmeer islands, and went north for some {{cvt|2|km}} where it ends abruptly today. After [[World War II]], the eastern polder was chosen as the next project, but Marken was not wholly ignored; on 17 October 1957, a {{cvt|3.5|km}} long dike was closed, running south of the now former island to the [[North Holland]] mainland.
[[File:Markerwaard 1981.jpg|thumb|upright|Markerwaard as envisioned in 1981]]
When construction started in 1959 on a new dike it had not yet been decided whether this would be the northern dike of Southern Flevoland or the southern dike of the Markerwaard, but the choice eventually fell to the former and another chance for the Markerwaard had passed. A minor flood near Amsterdam in 1960 had demonstrated the danger a large IJsselmeer still presented. A further planned element of the Markerwaard was subsequently executed: a 28&nbsp;km dike between Lelystad and [[Enkhuizen]], including two complexes of locks and discharge sluices at either end, was to split the IJsselmeer in two, with the largest portion ({{cvt|1250|km2}}) continuing as the IJsselmeer and the smaller lake ({{cvt|700|km2}}) being named the [[Markermeer]]. Construction of this dike, known later as the ''[[Houtribdijk]]'' or '''Markerwaarddijk''', progressed slowly, lasting from 1963 to 1975, after which it also served as an important road connection between the north of North Holland and the eastern Netherlands. The Houtribdijk did not, however, result in the construction of the rest of the Markerwaard, as many had hoped.

The debate on whether to build the Markerwaard continued for years. The need for new agricultural land had mostly disappeared by this time and extra space for housing was unnecessary in this region. The existing ecological and recreational value of the Markermeer was considered by many to be equal or superior to any potential such value the Markerwaard would offer. Doubts began to surface about the cost-effectiveness of the polder. The original post-war designs had called for a {{cvt|410|km2}} polder, yet many different proposals were later put forth in an effort to combine the benefits of both the Markerwaard and Markermeer, all to no avail. Although [[cabinet (government)|cabinets]] had intended to proceed with the Markerwaard, it was decided to indefinitely postpone the project in September 1986. A proposed alternative was to use the lake as a water reservoir for hydropower combined with wind-power from windmills on the dikes, eliminating the unpredictability of the latter{{spnd}}when there is an overcapacity of wind, use that to fill the lake and when there is not enough, use the high water level for hydro power.

In 2012, plans emerged to create the [[Marker Wadden]],<ref>[https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stcrt-2013-10683.html Intentieverklaring Marker Wadden, Rijkswaterstaat], Dutch government bulletin, April 2013</ref> a group of islands designed to establish nature reserves in the north of the Markermeer. Contrary to the Markerwaard, no permanent human occupation is planned, although it will be accessible to tourists and [[ornithology|birdwatchers]]. The creation process started in April 2016 with the first new island being inaugurated on 24 September 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2134152-een-nieuw-stukje-nederland-de-marker-wadden-zijn-open.html|title = Een nieuw stukje Nederland: De Marker Wadden zijn open| date=24 September 2016 }}</ref>