Dutch cooperative flood management

We’re In This Together: What the Dutch Know About Flooding That We Don’t – The Dutch attitude toward flood control is very different from that in the U.S.  Being a much smaller country where everyone shares the dangers of flooding, the Dutch have  developed a collective approach to mitigation.

That collectivist attitude to survival has spurred the Dutch to create some of the world’s most innovative and effective anti-flooding measures.  …

In the Netherlands, floods have been a part of life, and death, for at least 800 years. That uncomfortable reality led not just to a series of engineering advances, but also to a robust governmental institution – the water boards, which emerged in the 13th century as the nation’s first democratically elected bodies. “The water boards formed because farmers realized that living on mounds surrounded by water wasn’t a good way of making money,” says Morris. “Instead, they pooled their resources.”

The Dutch Water Sector has a whole section on History of Dutch Hydraulic Engineering.