The Urban Water Balance: a case study of the Prinseneiland,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
By Paul Rutten
Introduction
Currently more than half the world population lives in urbanised areas. This means that
knowledge about the urban climate becomes increasingly important. The urbanised areas
also represent a large economic value, which can be sensitive to damage by water under
extreme conditions. In the future these extreme conditions with the consequent damages
can become more common because of climate change.
When it comes to water, the climate can be best described with the hydrological cycle. The
hydrological cycle is used to describe all the significant processes and their interconnections
that exist in an (urban) area. Qualitatively, the hydrological cycle of urban areas is well
understood. Quantitatively, however, this is different, because most (not all!) previous
research focussed on quantifying individual processes in the urban hydrological cycle.
Despite the merits of this earlier research, looking only at parts of the hydrological cycle
leaves one with an incomplete view. The interconnections and feed-back loops in the cycle
of an area remain unknown, while they may actually have the most influence on the
processes in the area. The interconnections and feed-back loops can be investigated by
describing the entire cycle with a perceptual model.
This perceptual model is usually translated into a water balance, which allows one to test
hypotheses of the processes in the hydrological cycle by checking whether the balance is
closed. The water balance has been frequently used to investigate the hydrological cycle of
rural watersheds, which makes it a technique proven to be effective.
In this research the water balance and techniques to investigate hydrological processes are
used to quantify the hydrological cycle of the Prinseneiland in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Goals
The goal of the research is to quantify the processes in the hydrological cycle and close the
water balance of the Prinseneiland. To do this key parameters and variables that govern the
hydrological cycle are measured or estimated and the entire cycle is modelled with a water
balance to test hypotheses of the processes in the area.
By doing this our understanding of the hydrological cycle of the city increases. We can also
look more closely at which processes are most important. Furthermore, we could change the
input of the hydrological cycle and see the effects of climate change without suffering from
possible damages. With this information we can determine the sensitivity of our urban areas
to water related damage.
Site description
The Prinseneiland (52° 23' 15" N 4° 53' 15" E) is a fairly small island (about 3.4 ha.), which
was created in the seventeenth century by fixing large pieces of dislodged peat in the area to
place. The constructed peat island was supplemented with sand and debris to increase the
surface level and has been in use by the people of Amsterdam ever since.
About 44 % of the island is built-up, 22% is paved and 34 % is unpaved. The buildings consist
of two large blocks of former warehouses and other tall buildings in the middle of the island
and smaller (groups of) buildings on the sides. The unpaved areas are located on the sides of
the island and within the two blocks of buildings in the middle. See the figure below.
The Prinseneiland is quite suitable for determining the water balance, because of its relative
isolation from its surroundings. Because of it being an island, there is a more or less constant
water level around it, acting as a known boundary condition. There is a sewerage pump on
the island itself, which only serves the island. On top of that, there was no need to install a
drainage system to keep the groundwater levels down, which further reduces complexity.
Figure 1. Aerial photograph of the Prinseneiland taken in 2008. Source: Google Maps