Het Nieuwe Water

Het Nieuwe Water, between the towns of Naaldwijk and ’s-Gravenzande in the Netherlands, is a unique area development project that combines living by and on the water with recreation and leisure in an unprecedented way. On some 80 hectares of reclaimed land in a region formerly devoted to greenhouse horticulture, Europe's first neighborhood on the water will take form between 2010 and 2019, offering a variety of apartments, stilt homes, mound homes, townhomes, semi-detached homes, floating private islands and private lots.

Water storage

Higher-quality living, leisure and water

Decades ago, the Poelpolder area was formed by pumping out the water to reclaim the underlying land. Now that land will be returned to the water at basin level, creating both a unique location with exceptional living and recreational opportunities as well as extra water storage capacity. This perfect marriage of function, pleasure and beauty is Het Nieuwe Water.

The Westland region, with its distinctive greenhouse horticulture, has the highest degree of urbanization in the Netherlands. The two existing discharge avenues from the Westland region to the North Sea and the Nieuwe Waterweg canal will not continue to provide sufficient drainage over the long term. The Het Nieuwe Water project provides an innovative solution to this problem: an expansion of the water storage basin surface area by roughly 27 hectares. The potential 35-centimeter rise in the basin water level amply provides the required additional storage capacity. In the event of heavy rains or high river levels, the excess water will drain into this lowest point in the Westland region, at absolutely no inconvenience to residents. This feature of the project fulfills the Delfland Water Authority's plan for measures to improve the Westland region's water management system and to provide optimum security.