Polder

A polder is a low-lying tract of land reclaimed from water and kept dry by dikes, drainage canals, and pumps. Its water level must be managed continuously.

Dike: An embankment built to hold back water and protect land from flooding. Polders are enclosed by dikes that separate the reclaimed land from surrounding waters.
Zuiderzee Works: A Dutch system of dams and land-reclamation projects that transformed the Zuiderzee region. Its closure and drainage created large modern polders in the Netherlands.
Land reclamation: The creation of usable land by enclosing, draining, or filling areas covered by water. A polder is a lasting form of reclaimed land protected by water-control works.
Flood risk: The potential for flooding to cause harm to people, property, or ecosystems. A polder relies on defenses whose failure or overtopping can expose land below surrounding water.
Drainage: The removal of excess surface or groundwater from land. Drainage carries rain and seepage out of the enclosed basin.
Beemster Polder: A seventeenth-century reclaimed lake in the Netherlands, drained using windmills. Beemster became an influential early example of planned Dutch polder reclamation.
Agriculture in the Netherlands: The cultivation of crops and raising of livestock within the Netherlands. Many Dutch polders provide productive farmland because their water levels can be controlled.
Peat oxidation: The decomposition of drained peat exposed to oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide and reducing soil volume. Lowering polder water tables can accelerate peat loss, emissions, and land subsidence.
Drainage canal: A channel that collects and conveys excess water from land. Canals route water from polder fields toward pumping stations or outlets.
Kinderdijk: A Dutch village known for its historic network of windmills and water-management works. Its windmills illustrate how earlier polders were kept dry before modern pumps.

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