Sand extraction

The Netherlands uses around 72 million cubic meters of sand yearly. Half of this sand comes from national waters, such as the Wadden Sea, the Ems-Dollard area, IJsselmeer and fringing lakes, the delta waters and especially the North Sea. The rest of the sand is extracted from land. Sand is used for housing, public works and road construction. Even the flower bulb industry uses sand. Sea sand is also used for sand nourishment projects (in 2008: 12 million cubic meters).

In the early 1980s, sea sand was only a small percent of the total amount of extracted sand. After the year 2000, the extraction of sea sand greatly increased to around 35 million cubic meters per year. Around half of that amount is used for sand nourishments. If the Delta Commission's advice is taken, 85 million cubic meters of sand per year will be necessary just for sand nourishments alone. The Netherlands extracts the most sand in the North Sea by far, as can be seen in the underlying graph.

Sea sand is brought onto land by means of a hopper. In 2002, of the 34 million cubic meters of extracted sand, 5 million cubic meters came from maintenance activities in the channels of the IJ and the Euro-Maas. Dredging also takes place in the Westerschelde and the Wadden Sea. These dredging ships bring the sand to four depots in front of the coast: by the Maasvlakte, the Haringvliet, IJmuiden and in the Westerschelde. From there, the sand is sucked up by smaller vessels and shipped to the various users.

Sand extraction in the North Sea

Sand extraction in the Dutch section of the North Sea is only allowed in places where the sea is a minimum of 20 meters deep or 20 km away from the coast. A maximum of two meters on the upper surface may be dug up. Only specific navigational channels, such as the Euro-Maas channel by the Maasvlakte, may be dredged down to 5 meters. Sand is extracted from the Dutch section of the North Sea for the purposes of raising areas, making concrete and mortar and beach nourishments. On the British section of the North Sea, concrete sand, mortar sand and gravel is extracted. Part of this British sand and gravel goes to Vlissingen (Flushing), Beverwijk and Amsterdam where large installations for desalination and separation by grain sizes are located.

Effects of sand extraction

How quickly the sea bottom, and therefore the flora and fauna of the sea floor, recover from exploitation works is strongly dependent upon the situation where it occurs. In areas where tidal movements and substantial supplies of sand take place, traces of hoppers disappear after a year or so. This can take up to four years in less turbulent areas and up to nine years in extreme cases. Environmental Effect Reports are legally required in sand exploitation areas 100 hectares or larger.

The recovery of the benthic fauna is also strongly dependent upon the situation of the area. Recovery takes two to four years in high to average dynamic regions and up to fifteen years in low dynamic regions such as the Wadden Sea.

Sand extraction in the Wadden Sea

According to agreements between the countries bordering the Wadden Sea, sand exploitation is only allowed in protected areas of the Wadden Sea in the case of navigational channels that need to be dredged and not for sand exploitation. Local coastal protective regulations can permit sand exploitation outside of the large channels. However, it must occur in such a way that the consequences for the environment are kept to a minimum. Permanent or long-lasting effects must be avoided or, if that is not possible, compensated.

The amount of sand extracted in the Dutch Wadden Sea is slowly decreasing from more than 3.5 million cubic meters in 1986 to less than one million cubic meters in 1995. This decline is particularly due to the decrease in sand extraction in the Marsdiep. Around 60% of the sand is used for dike re-enforcement. Since 1998, no licenses have been granted for extracting sand from the Wadden Sea, due to the damage it causes to the environment as well as the extra coastal erosion on the islands. Only sand gained from maintenance works in the channels may be used for commercial purposes. In 2003, this amounted to more than 436,000 cubic meters of sand, more than 107,000 cubic meters than in 2002.

Weblinks

Rules for sand and gravel exploitation:
http://www.noordzee.org/Levende_zee/economisch_gebruik/zandengrindwinning.htm