Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards had a full first day on his business trip to the Netherlands.
On Saturday, Governor Edwards is in the Netherlands to meet with the Dutch Water Envoy and tour the country’s water management facilities to better understand flood control and how it could help strengthen water management technology in Louisiana.
“Edwards and a group of Louisiana business and government leaders included a meeting with Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands Henk Ovink, as well as a tour of major water infrastructure sites and research facilities around the country in an effort to forge economic and resiliency partnerships with their Dutch counterparts,” says the governor’s office.
The visit included:
-The Noorwaard Polder, among the key sites of the country’s large-scale flood control project, “Room for the River.”
-Kinderdijk, a UNESCO world heritage site whose 19 windmills have historical significance in the development of water management and pumping stations.
-Delft, home of the Deltares water research institute featuring the largest wave-testing facility in the world.
“The Netherlands has been an invaluable partner to Louisiana in our quest to develop cutting-edge solutions to the state’s complex flood control challenges,” Gov. Edwards said. “Our ongoing exchange of water management best practices is a model for the kind of international collaboration that is required to confront an environmental crisis of this magnitude. On behalf of the entire state, I thank Special Water Envoy Ovink for the invitation to continue the exchange of ideas and experiences to the historic water challenges we both face.”
