View allAll Photos Tagged WaterManagement
Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis, previously Grus canadensis, Gruidae) flying over the Town Drain in the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area, Town of Seneca, Green Lake County, Wisconsin
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Pumping windmill "Het Noorden" (1879) In the island of Texel.
The whole principle of polder drainage is quit simple.
In the background is the ring canal that collects the excess of water from the polder.
The pumping windmill made sure that the excess of water from the ring canal was pumped in the storage bassin before the windmill.
From here the water was discharged to the sea trough the lock in the foreground during low tide....
Streefkerk is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and lies on the southside of the river Lek, about 20 kilometres east of Rotterdam.
In 2004, the town of Streefkerk had 2600 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.37 km², and contained 628 residences. The statistical area "Streefkerk", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 2,600.
Streefkerk was a separate municipality until 1986, when it became part of Liesveld. The latter has been part of Molenwaard since 2013.
Streefkerk is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and lies on the southside of the river Lek, about 20 kilometres east of Rotterdam.
In 2004, the town of Streefkerk had 2600 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.37 km², and contained 628 residences. The statistical area "Streefkerk", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 2,600.
Streefkerk was a separate municipality until 1986, when it became part of Liesveld. The latter has been part of Molenwaard since 2013.
Hagestein weir. The Hagestein lock and weir complex is located in the Lek near the village of Hagestein in the municipality of Vianen, in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The complex was completed in 1958. The complex is similar to that at Driel and that at Amerongen. With these three dams together, a large part of the water management of the Netherlands can be arranged. The weir consists of two arches that hang in the water.
The land between rivers Lek and Merwede is a fantastic area to discover by foot, bike, boat, skate or boat. The Alblasserwaard polders are filled with windmills in a characteristic Dutch landscape which reminds us to the fact that this land is below sea-level
In the Alblasserwaard polders there are many trails by foot, skate or bike. Many interesting places can be visited like pittoresque Nieuwpoort, local history museum 'de Koperen Knop', the many cheesefarms and offcourse the world famous Kinderdijk windmills.
Hagestein weir. The Hagestein lock and weir complex is located in the Lek near the village of Hagestein in the municipality of Vianen, in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The complex was completed in 1958. The complex is similar to that at Driel and that at Amerongen. With these three dams together, a large part of the water management of the Netherlands can be arranged. The weir consists of two arches that hang in the water.
A view of the historic, more than a century old part of the "Emschergenossenschaft" complex in Essen, Germany's largest water management association named after the Emscher river.
Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor - Hirundinidae)
Uihlein Waterfowl Production Area
Waukau, Wisconsin
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The Kinderdijk windmills are part of the UNESCO World Heritage .
To buy this photo: Gettyimages
The land between rivers Lek and Merwede is a fantastic area to discover by foot, bike, boat, skate or boat. The Alblasserwaard polders are filled with windmills in a characteristic Dutch landscape which reminds us to the fact that this land is below sea-level
In the Alblasserwaard polders there are many trails by foot, skate or bike. Many interesting places can be visited like pittoresque Nieuwpoort, local history museum 'de Koperen Knop', the many cheesefarms and offcourse the world famous Kinderdijk windmills.
The old Weteringmolen is a wip mill on the Beneden Tiendweg in Streefkerk, in the Dutch municipality of Molenlanden, province of South Holland. The mill was built in or before 1751 and was in operation until 1951. In 1847 the mill was raised approximately 0.50 meters by building field walls. In 1957 he came into possession of the SIMAV. The two other mills of the group, the Sluismolen and the Hoge Tiendwegse Molen, fell into disrepair and were both destroyed by fire. Work is currently underway to rebuild these two mills. In 1989 the mill was thoroughly restored and made ready for milling again. Because the old watercourses no longer exist and because the other mills have disappeared, the mill now grinds in circuit. The Oudendijkse Mill can be visited by appointment. The flight with a length of 26.80 m. has old Dutch fencing. The mill grinds with a paddle wheel with a diameter of 5.94 m and a width of 0.52 m, which achieves a head of up to 1.40 m.
The old Weteringmolen is a wip mill on the Beneden Tiendweg in Streefkerk, in the Dutch municipality of Molenlanden, province of South Holland. The mill was built in or before 1751 and was in operation until 1951. In 1847 the mill was raised approximately 0.50 meters by building field walls. In 1957 he came into possession of the SIMAV. The two other mills of the group, the Sluismolen and the Hoge Tiendwegse Molen, fell into disrepair and were both destroyed by fire. Work is currently underway to rebuild these two mills. In 1989 the mill was thoroughly restored and made ready for milling again. Because the old watercourses no longer exist and because the other mills have disappeared, the mill now grinds in circuit. The Oudendijkse Mill can be visited by appointment. The flight with a length of 26.80 m. has old Dutch fencing. The mill grinds with a paddle wheel with a diameter of 5.94 m and a width of 0.52 m, which achieves a head of up to 1.40 m.
The easternmost of the original three sub-mills, the small Mill, is located half a kilometer southwest of the village center at Tiendweg 2. This seesaw water mill dates from before 1751, when there was no stepped drainage with five mills. The 0.25 m high field walls reach the 0.40 m high shelving under the thatched lower tower. The black tarred upper house has a herringbone-shaped weatherboard front. The year l768 is stamped into the catch hook in the upper house and l776 is carved into the keystone of the arch above the back watercourse. In 1838, the 5.66 m high and 0.48 m wide paddle wheel still turned in an iron casing or 'the cable house'. In 1855, parts of the crossbeam and the upper house were renovated. To increase the milling efficiency, the polder council purchased a used inner rod in October 1935, which was fitted with the improved Dekker wick system. Soon after, it became apparent that the mill was turning very irregularly and was stalling during gusts of wind. Until 1951, the small mill was part of the stepped drainage of the Streefkerk polder.
Since 1707, the Gaaspermolen windmill (in those days called the Gemeenschapsmolen) has kept the Gemeenschapspolder dry. This polder was created shortly before, the result of eight smaller polders being merged. Initially, the drainage was done with a scoop wheel, but this was replaced after two centuries by a screw pump. After a diesel pumping station was built in 1926 next to the mill, the cap and wings were removed and the oak hull of the mill was adapted for housing by addin windows. In 2003 the Gaaspermolen was restored by the renowned firm Poland from Broek op Langedijk and put back into use as a working mill. An electric pumping station jumps in when the wind speed is too low to drive the screw pump. The beautiful location of the mill on a wide section of the river Gaasp makes it a great scenic viewpoint.
This scene unfolds each year at the northern end of Lake Cascade due to the rhythms of the changing seasons. The spring snow melt in the mountains fills the reservoir to its brim. Then, in late summer and fall, as water is continuously released for irrigation across thousands of acres of farms in Idaho's Payette Valley, the lake's receding northern shoreline exposes submerged sandbars, leaving the water to drain and eventually form a stream before the winter sets in.
Stubborn willows--such as Salix exigua--emerge with the sandbars, a testament to their resilience after months of complete submersion. These plants live in two worlds--submerged beneath the lake's surface, relying on spongy tissues to channel oxygen and a bit of underwater photosynthesis to survive the deep waters, and then suddenly reemerging to thrive in the air and sunlight. Their yearly cycle leaves me to ponder how both nature's rhythms and human needs (irrigation) shape this beautiful landscape, creating habitat for life uniquely adapted to living at the edge.
Oh... and the wildfire in the background? That's the Rock Fire on West Mountain (2025). It threatened the Tamarack Resort. Its ski trail is visible coming down the side of the mountain.
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© Stephen L. Frazier - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, printing, publication, or any other use of this image without written permission is prohibited.
Kinderdijk is a village in the Netherlands, world-famous for its historic windmills and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This interesting surface has been designed and created at the Berkeley waterfront park. .. runoff from the paved street lanes runs sideways and filters into the ground. These parking strips line both sides of the road. City of Berkeley.
In looking up this idea, I see that most systems involve re-cycled plastic--which doesn't appeal to me. It's still adding plastic to the exposed environment! This one seems focused on rock and iron. . . but not sure what's under it.
Been away for a bit on a Rhine River cruise. Image from the last day of the trip from Kinderijk Windmill site in Holland, our last visit.
The famous windmills at Kinderdijk in South Holland are a group of 19 authentic windmills built in 1738 and 1740 to keep water out of the low-lying land. It is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The mills are listed as national monuments and the entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Print Size 13x19 inches.
Happy Windmill Wednesday
Think "Holland" and you've probably already conjured the iconic images of tulips and windmills. More precisely, the very specific windmills you're envisioning right now are that of Kinderdijk.
Though it may sound odd for how technical and pragmatic the region proved to be, the name Kinderdijk translates in Dutch to mean "children's dike." According to local legend, after a particularly terrible flood in the 15th century, a lone basket was left floating in an inundated canal. Upon closer inspection, a cat was found bounding from one side of the basket to the other in an effort to keep it balanced, for inside rested an orphaned baby. The cat had kept the babe afloat, safe and sound during its journey… Thus giving the world the folktale "The Cat and the Cradle" in addition to the village of Kinderdijk its name.
Back in the modern day, visitors will find 19 historically authentic windmills scattered across Kinderdijk's canal-riddled landscape. With their sails raised to the skies (coming to rest in formations that communicate across the bogs in a language of semafors), one could be forgiven for believing these are creatures beholden to the air. What history reveals, in fact, is that the Netherlands' famous windmills are well-disguised creatures of the sea, without which the nation's famously innovative water management system would not have been possible.
Sometime in the 13th century, Zuid-Holland's peat rivers ceased to drain as they had been, creating a pattern of flooding that devastated the beautiful landscape at Alblasserwaard, which already existed below sea level. Berms were built to prevent flooding, but pumping stations needed to be constructed to continue water flow from low to high areas; hence, the 19th windmills still seen today.
Nowhere else in the world offers a complete portrait of early water management like that of Kinderdijk, which accounts for UNESCO's inclusion of the site among its World Heritage as of 1997 for its "unique character." Thanks to its truly groundbreaking unification of sea and sky, plus the added bonus of a world-renowned folktale, a visit to Kinderdijk is the sort of treasure that offers something for dreamers and pragmatists alike. www.atlasobscura.com/places/windmills-of-kinderdijk
The famous windmills at Kinderdijk in South Holland are a group of 19 authentic windmills built in 1738 and 1740 to keep water out of the low-lying land. It is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The mills are listed as national monuments and the entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Print size 8x10 inches.
Happy Fence Friday
The windmills at Kinderdijk in South Holland are a group of 19 authentic windmills built in 1738 and 1740 to keep water out of the low-lying land. It is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The mills are listed as national monuments and the entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Print Size 13x19 inches.
Happy Windmill Wednesday
Na Serra da Cabreira, em Cabeceiras de Basto, o trilho da Levada da Víbora (PR4) revela a importância histórica e ecológica dos sistemas de levadas no Minho. Este canal de pedra, fundamental para a irrigação agrícola e o abeberamento do gado, integra-se na paisagem outonal da floresta mista, onde carvalhos e outras árvores de folha caduca partilham o espaço com coníferas perenes. A densa camada de musgo e a folhada no solo testemunham a humidade e a fertilidade, elementos cruciais para o equilíbrio do ecossistema. O percurso pedestre oferece uma perspetiva sobre a relação entre as comunidades rurais e a gestão da água, ilustrando como estes sistemas de engenharia hidráulica tradicional moldaram a ocupação humana e a economia da região ao longo de séculos. A paisagem outonal, com os seus contrastes cromáticos, enriquece a experiência do visitante, evidenciando a biodiversidade e o valor etnográfico deste local.
In Serra da Cabreira, in Cabeceiras de Basto, the Levada da Víbora trail (PR4) reveals the historical and ecological importance of the levada systems in Minho. This stone channel, essential for agricultural irrigation and watering livestock, blends into the autumnal landscape of the mixed forest, where oaks and other deciduous trees share space with evergreen conifers. The dense layer of moss and leaf litter on the ground testify to the humidity and fertility, crucial elements for the balance of the ecosystem. The walking trail offers a perspective on the relationship between rural communities and water management, illustrating how these traditional hydraulic engineering systems have shaped human occupation and the economy of the region over centuries. The autumnal landscape, with its chromatic contrasts, enriches the visitor's experience, highlighting the biodiversity and ethnographic value of this place.
From October 16 till 22 I was at LEGO World The Netherlands with my fellow LLMTC friends. Together we’ve created a joint train lay-out ranging from a city to factory yards to station buildings and rural landscapes. My part for this year was Linderei Bahnhof which although from 2021until now never was at LEGO World and a new part: A Dutch polder landscape set in the 1920’s with a wind mill based on the landscape behind my house.
Around the year 1000 we had a warmer climate than the present, resulting in better harvests and an expanding population. The inhabitants of the terp/wierde dwellings on the coastal marshes started to look for more living space. Groups of settlers travelled inland following the small water ways and started cultivating the adjacent raised bogs. Due to drainage for cultivation the peat started to oxidize and the surface sunk. Over time this shrinkage amounted to a couple of meters resulting in the multiple displacements of the farms to higher (uncultivated) grounds. In the end the situation became so dire the inhabitants had to build dykes to protect the cultivated lands and in the final stage a need for wind mills arose too pump out excess water on the river as the only means to keep dry feet.
I’ve depicted the little river ‘Westerwoldse A’ which as you can see has a higher surface (six plates) as the low lying polder to the left. The right bank is significantly higher as the polder due to some Pleistocene river dunes. On top of the dyke a wind mill is working hard too pump water out of the polder in to the river in order to keep the lands dry. Behind the mill is the little farmhouse of the miller family. Being a train builder I had to include a railway, which is not present in the actual situation. The railway crosses the river by means of a rotating bridge. The bridge can turn open by operating a hand leaver on both sides of the layout. The bridge operator lives in the house on the right bank together with his wife who is operating a ‘living room’ café for travelers along the ‘jaagpad’ or towpath in English.
On the river you can see a classic ‘Groninger Tjalk’, a flat bottomed sailing vessel used for transporting a variety of goods ranging from peat to clay to bricks and more. On the small inland water ways sailing was not possible so the vessels were towed by the skipper his family. Sometimes professional towers were available with a horse for this heavy work. The rigging is fairly accurate and like the real thing the mast can be lowered as well. Also on the river is a small ‘praam’ with a farmhand transporting manure.
The higher, sandy right bank is dryer as the polder and supports a couple of oak trees and a semi heather used for grazing the (ridiculously expensive) cows. I’ve included all kinds of (brick-build) animals and little scenes with people like the ‘peddler) losing a wheel of his cart. Furthermore there is a classical Gronings wooden laundry frame with a cloth on it, the bridge crossing sports a balloon sign and behind the mill on the polder side you can see a water level indicator.
All buildings (and the Tjalk) are scaled 1:45. The wind mill is powered by a Power Functions L motor connected to an rechargeable LEGO battery box which on setting 1 gives the mill blades a realistic speed. I’ve created a technic construction too make the mill cap turn ever so slowly if the mill blades are turning. This gives visitors the change to see the mill from all sides. The mill performed perfect for the whole seven days of LEGO world. Only problem I’ve run in to was one L motor that died after two days. Lesson for the next event, not only the battery box should be easy accessible but the motor should be as well 😊
For the landscaping I’ve used olive green and dark tan and for the water trans brown tiles on a black plate. This results in some nice natural colours and a realistic looking landscape.
Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
From October 16 till 22 I was at LEGO World The Netherlands with my fellow LLMTC friends. Together we’ve created a joint train lay-out ranging from a city to factory yards to station buildings and rural landscapes. My part for this year was Linderei Bahnhof which although from 2021until now never was at LEGO World and a new part: A Dutch polder landscape set in the 1920’s with a wind mill based on the landscape behind my house.
Around the year 1000 we had a warmer climate than the present, resulting in better harvests and an expanding population. The inhabitants of the terp/wierde dwellings on the coastal marshes started to look for more living space. Groups of settlers travelled inland following the small water ways and started cultivating the adjacent raised bogs. Due to drainage for cultivation the peat started to oxidize and the surface sunk. Over time this shrinkage amounted to a couple of meters resulting in the multiple displacements of the farms to higher (uncultivated) grounds. In the end the situation became so dire the inhabitants had to build dykes to protect the cultivated lands and in the final stage a need for wind mills arose too pump out excess water on the river as the only means to keep dry feet.
I’ve depicted the little river ‘Westerwoldse A’ which as you can see has a higher surface (six plates) as the low lying polder to the left. The right bank is significantly higher as the polder due to some Pleistocene river dunes. On top of the dyke a wind mill is working hard too pump water out of the polder in to the river in order to keep the lands dry. Behind the mill is the little farmhouse of the miller family. Being a train builder I had to include a railway, which is not present in the actual situation. The railway crosses the river by means of a rotating bridge. The bridge can turn open by operating a hand leaver on both sides of the layout. The bridge operator lives in the house on the right bank together with his wife who is operating a ‘living room’ café for travelers along the ‘jaagpad’ or towpath in English.
On the river you can see a classic ‘Groninger Tjalk’, a flat bottomed sailing vessel used for transporting a variety of goods ranging from peat to clay to bricks and more. On the small inland water ways sailing was not possible so the vessels were towed by the skipper his family. Sometimes professional towers were available with a horse for this heavy work. The rigging is fairly accurate and like the real thing the mast can be lowered as well. Also on the river is a small ‘praam’ with a farmhand transporting manure.
The higher, sandy right bank is dryer as the polder and supports a couple of oak trees and a semi heather used for grazing the (ridiculously expensive) cows. I’ve included all kinds of (brick-build) animals and little scenes with people like the ‘peddler) losing a wheel of his cart. Furthermore there is a classical Gronings wooden laundry frame with a cloth on it, the bridge crossing sports a balloon sign and behind the mill on the polder side you can see a water level indicator.
All buildings (and the Tjalk) are scaled 1:45. The wind mill is powered by a Power Functions L motor connected to an rechargeable LEGO battery box which on setting 1 gives the mill blades a realistic speed. I’ve created a technic construction too make the mill cap turn ever so slowly if the mill blades are turning. This gives visitors the change to see the mill from all sides. The mill performed perfect for the whole seven days of LEGO world. Only problem I’ve run in to was one L motor that died after two days. Lesson for the next event, not only the battery box should be easy accessible but the motor should be as well 😊
For the landscaping I’ve used olive green and dark tan and for the water trans brown tiles on a black plate. This results in some nice natural colours and a realistic looking landscape.
Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!