The Netherlands produced 1,191 million m³ of drinking water in 2025, and seven weeks of national water shortage in 2026, from 16 July to 3 September, did not affect its availability, the government reported. On 30 July the Rhine at Lobith, where the river enters from Germany, was lower than ever measured.
A country that depends on its neighbours
Of the 91 km³ of renewable water the Netherlands receives in an average year, 80 km³ arrives from abroad, a dependency ratio of 87.91%. When the Rhine and Meuse run low, salt water pushes further inland in the west, where groundwater is already too saline to make drinking water. Rijkswaterstaat closed the Eefde lock complex to shipping and tested the Gent-Terneuzen canal pumps on 17 August.
Drinking water comes first
Drinking water and energy supply sit in the second of four categories in the national priority order for distributing water, ahead of agriculture and shipping. Most drinking water also comes from the ground rather than the rivers: groundwater, bank filtrate and dune water made up 806 million of the 1,240 million m³ abstracted in 2025. Farm use swings sharply with the weather, from 349 million m³ in the 2020 drought year to 124.4 million m³ in 2021.
The margin is regional
National water stress was only 14.91% in 2023. But RIVM found that Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and western Zuid-Holland already lacked the reserves to guarantee peak supply in 2020. Drinking water production rose 2.6% in 2025, and Rijkswaterstaat warned on 3 September 2026 that groundwater would stay low for months.
Where new supply will come from, how fast permits can be granted and what the 2030 capacity target depends on are covered in the full brief. The full report, Water Security and Supply Outlook in Netherlands, is available for USD 249. For a free overview, see Netherlands Country Snapshot.