Featured Room for the Rivers in Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Representatives of Dutch Water Sector, Silke Nauta explained the technology of WaveDroid and Flore Bijker from Infram about “Room for the Rivers” to Myanmar undergraduate and postgraduate students at University of Yangon. So then, I asked two questions what the Wavedroid is, why Room for the Rivers is needed in Myanmar, and how these technologies and concepts are helpful to improve Myanmar Water Sector.
I personally would like to anticipate these advanced technology and sophisticated concepts while I attended Myanmar – Netherlands Water Challenge. Subsequently, they are able to provide foresee the future technology that can be used in Myanmar Water Sector and flexible water management system to reduce flooding risk and prevent from further risks such as water scarcity, water inadequacy and coastal protection.
Silke Nauta explained the technology of Wavedroids
WaveDroid
The WaveDroid is a new generation of ocean wave measurement buoys, based on the latest technologies. The buoy is easy to use, and wave height, period, wave direction, directional spreading and GPS location can be measured. This Wavedroid will be used to measure wave dynamics in the Gulf of Mottama – an arm of the Andaman Sea in the southern part of Myanmar. The reason is for that the wave parameters will be gathered to learn more about how waves in the shallow waters of the gulf. Furthermore, it is to check and improve existing models which are used for predicting these shallow water waves.
“The buoy will be deployed in the first week of November and will stay in the water for at least a year,” Silke presented. “This will therefore also give information about the differences in wave height, period and direction between the dry and rainy season,” she added.
Check out her presentation that she presented in Myanmar – Netherlands Water Challenge 2018 Grand Final.
Download PDF File Here 
Flore Bijker articulate the ideas of Room for the Rivers
Room for the Rivers
Room for the river has a number of key characteristics, that can be useful for the Myanmar water sector as well. The Room for the River program combines the main goal of water safety (flood protection) with a second goal: improving spatial quality. The program breaks with the traditional Dutch reliance on dyke reinforcement in flood risk management. Instead, the focus is on creating ‘more room for the river; for example, by relocating the existing dykes, lowering the floodplains or creating a bypass.
And then, Flore explained why ‘Room for the Rivers’ is needed in Myanmar. “In Myanmar many water-related challenges can be found. Moreover, the country is facing a wide variety of change, ranging from socio-economical, political to environmental,” She said.
“One of the expected developments is an increase of (the effects of) flooding, due to an increase of socio-economic activities in flood-prone areas and man-made adaptations within the river basin, and on the other hand the effects of climate change,” she gave her opinion.
Check out her presentation that she presented in Myanmar – Netherlands Water Challenge 2018 Grand Final.
Download PDF File Here
