This map forms part of the Provincial Environmental Ordinance of South Holland and contains the groundwater protection areas of the province. The production of this map is based on the prevailing groundwater protection areas, as determined by the Provincial Council in the context of the Provincial Environmental Ordinance South Holland. In the 2021 Provincial Environmental Ordinance, a new area category of groundwater protection area has been established, the additional strategic reserves. These are areas reserved for the future drinking water supply. The map provides an overview of the groundwater protection areas to protect the quality of the groundwater with a view to water abstraction for drinking water supply (zones within this: water abstraction areas, groundwater protection zones, drilling-free zones and additional strategic reserves). This overview is based on the Provincial Environmental Ordinance of South Holland, as it applies after the determination of the tenth tranche that came into force on November 11, 2021. Water collection areas form a zone of a groundwater protection area in which groundwater is extracted for public drinking water supplies. The zones groundwater protection zone, drilling-free zone and additional strategic reserves also belong to a groundwater protection area, although these zones do not necessarily always occur in groundwater protection areas. A groundwater protection area is an area designated under the Provincial Environmental Ordinance as referred to in Article 1.2, second paragraph, under a, of the Environmental Management Act, for which rules have been included in the provincial environmental ordinance to protect the quality of the groundwater with a view to the water extraction. The designated areas are indicated on the map accompanying the provincial environmental ordinance. The following distinction can be made with regard to the protection regime: - Water abstraction areas with the strictest regime: bounded by the line from which the groundwater in the aquifer needs a maximum of 60 days to reach the abstraction points (with the exception of the dune area where the entire dune area has been retained as a water catchment area). - Groundwater protection zones: bounded by the line at ground level from which the groundwater reaches the abstraction points within 50 years, taking into account the (vertical) travel time through the soil to the aquifer, as well as the (horizontal) travel time of the groundwater through the water-carrying package. - Bore-free zones (the least strict regime): these are determined on the basis of the (horizontal) travel time of at least 50 years from the groundwater to the extraction points in the aquifer. - Additional strategic reserves: the same protection regime applies here as for drilling-free zones.
