Targeted response to water calamities

HHNK is in charge of water management and water quality in the part of North Holland above the North Sea Canal, which means it comes face to face with various types of calamities, such as contamination of the surface water by a broken pressure pipe from the sewer system, flooding due to heavy rainfall, or damage to flood defense systems. Given the serious potential consequences of such situations, the HHNK wants to intervene as efficiently as possible. They asked Geodan to develop a system to help them.

When it comes to crisis management, rapid information provision is crucial for making the right decisions. That’s why Geodan has designed a system that makes relevant data immediately available to everyone involved. HHNK has a lot of geo-information at its disposal, specifically map layers. Water boards can add their map material to the system and indicates which layers should be visible for different scenarios. Per scenario, this image is supplemented with information, for example about the contacts involved. New information about the status of the calamity is immediately added by the crisis team. This way, all team members have a complete and up-to-date overview of the situation: the so-called common operational picture.

In the event of a calamity, the crisis coordinator sets up a crisis team based on the severity and complexity of the situation. He or she selects a suitable scenario and shares the available information with all team members. If necessary, external parties also have access to the system, such as a contractor, for example, who is called in to pump away water. Thanks to a history mode, HHNK can evaluate how every incident was handled, which lets the crisis team continuously improve how they work together and tackle calamities in a targeted manner.