The Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland is a Dutch waterboard, which is responsible for water management. It covers the municipalities of Delft,

Midden-Delfland Midden-Delfland () is a municipality (''gemeente'') in the Westland region in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. It was formed on January 1, 2004, through the ...

and

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, and is fully located in the province of South Holland. The organization was established in 1289 when

William I, Duke of Bavaria William I, Duke of Bavaria-Straubing (Frankfurt am Main, 1330–1389, Le Quesnoy), was the second son of Emperor Louis IV and Margaret II of Hainaut. He was also known as William V, Count of Holland, as William III, Count of Hainaut and ...

(As William V, Count of Holland) authorized the "Heemraden of Delft" to manage water and serve as a court.

Tasks

The Hoogheemraadschap is tasked with water quality and water quantity issues in its region. Its main activities are *Maintaining safe dykes and dunes. Management is based on both sea and river based flood control. *Operation of several wastewater treatment plants of which the one in Harnaschpolder is the largest.

Organization

The organization is led by a general board called "verenigde vergadering", consisting of 30 representatives which are representatives of the inhabitants (21 by direct elections), industry (4), owners of open land (mainly farmers) (4) and owners of nature (1). The present constitution is: The inhabitants parties of VVD, AWP, CDA and Water Natuurlijk together with the representatives of Land and Industry together form the governing coalition. The 5 Hoogheemraden that form with the Dijkgraaf the Dagelijks Bestuur (Executive Council) thus stem from those 5 groups. The civil organization employs 550 people and has a turn over of 260 million euro.

Gemeenlandshuis

The

gemeenlandshuis A Gemeenlandshuis, or Waterschapshuis is a building that is (or was formerly used as) the headquarters of one of the Waterboards of the Netherlands. History Early flood control in the Netherlands is often called the ''Teerschouw'', which lo ...

at the Oude Delft in Delft houses the main office of the Delfland Water Board. The building is a rijksmonument and was built in 1505. The Late-Gothic building, situated on the Oude Delft 167, was built in 1505. The first owner was Jan de Huyter, bailiff of Delft and steward of Delfland. Later occupants were Philips, Count of Hohenlohe who was married to Maria of Nassau, a daughter of Willem of Orange. The Delfland Water Board has been established here since 1645. The building contains a large collection of old maps of Delfland. A large number of Coats of Arms cover the sandstone façade . Fortunately the façade was spared during the fire of 1536 which burned through the city of Delft. The main entrance to the Delfland Water Board is now situated on the Phoenixstraat where more recently buildings been added on.

References

External sources

Official website
{{Authority control South Holland Delfland