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The Valley and Veluwe water authorities are restricting groundwater use in the region in an unprecedented effort to protect nature and maintain water quality during the drought.
Some of the larger cities in the region include Amersfoort and Apeldoorn. Ede and Veenendael.
Groundwater use is prohibited from 7am to 10pm. It is also prohibited to fetch water within 200 meters of the stream and in the area around Valaikanal between Leenen and Amersfoort.
Farmers will be hit harder by this measure than the families and some businesses that are banned from using groundwater or surface water to maintain their farms, golf courses and sports fields.
Veluwe is one of the main freshwater reservoirs in the Netherlands, but “the groundwater table is falling rapidly,” water authority official Henk Veldhuizen told broadcaster NOS.
“This measure is necessary to prevent irreversible damage to nature and to maintain a reasonable amount of groundwater,” he said.
Twente and Salland faced groundwater use restrictions earlier this month.
No heavy rainfall is expected over the next two weeks, although temperatures will drop after Thursday, when temperatures hit 30 degrees in some areas.
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