VOICE-OVER: Water, source of life.
Of prosperity. Of pleasure.
Of wet hair and fresh determination.
We rely on it.
Every single day.
As if it's never been any other way.
AN OMINOUS SOUND
Because we don't usually stop to think about the destructive force of water.
Whether we live above sea level or metres below it, we go on our way.
Past dykes, dunes, locks and flood defences.
Even when there's a storm.
Even now that sea levels are slowly but surely rising.
We drink, irrigate, put out fires and refrigerate.
Sail for fun or for a living.
Including when the river level drops and the call for water grows.
We eat fresh oranges and drive in the latest cars,
which have found their way to us across busy seas and rivers.
We enjoy nature, clean water, animals and plants.
We live on water and we live with water.
Completely normal for most people in the Netherlands.
But for Rijkswaterstaat, daily work.
We look ahead.
Looking for answers to tomorrow's problems, today.
To keep the Netherlands safe, liveable and accessible.