Subsidence caused damage to houses in New Amsterdam, the Fugro consultancy concluded in a research report last May. The Vechtstromen Water Board now wants to know whether the extraction of groundwater has had an impact on the groundwater level in the area in question and therefore on the subsidence.

Fugro’s research report showed that the cause of the
subsidence in the study area

lies in peat oxidation of the top layer and settlement of deep settlement-sensitive layers. This is caused by intermediate temperatures due to warm, dry summer changes, which are becoming more common due to changing climate.

The extraction of groundwater can also have an effect on the periodic low groundwater levels in the area. The groundwater level is determined by a combination of rain and evaporation. It is clear that a long period of drought had an impact on the situation in New Amsterdam, but according to Fugro’s research, the whole story has not been set out.

Fieldwork

The field research will start in the first week of October, in which the water board will look at the abstraction of water by industry, agriculture and horticulture.

“Because we start working as soon as possible and also explain personal conversations with various entrepreneurs,” says a spokesperson of Vechtstromen. “In order to clearly map out the local situation, employees of the water board are also regularly present in the area.”

The water board says the follow-up study will take several months.

Damage to homes

Since the end of 2019, the municipality of Emmen has received many reports from the New Amsterdam area about damage to homes. Research has shown that this damage
is a combination of subsidence and renovation of houses

. They also investigated whether there is a relationship with damage to homes in the Nieuw-Amsterdam area and the surrounding area.