Agriculture
Ministry Did Not Anticipate Extreme Drought; Crisis Team States Wet Autumn and Winter Are Needed to Address Problems
Harold van Waveren, chairman of the national drought crisis team, stated that a wet autumn and winter are essential to prepare for the next dry season, noting that groundwater recovery will take months. Top civil servant Liz van Duin admitted that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management did not fully anticipate such low river levels occurring on this timeline, although they were projected for later. River flows are currently decreasing further, with normal levels expected only after weeks or months. Consequently, one-way traffic may be implemented on the IJssel river, forcing some inland shipping vessels to detour hundreds of kilometers.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's