Protecting Flanders against flooding of the Scheldt and its tributaries, that is what the Sigma Plan is about. At the same time, the magnificent nature of the Scheldt region is also being restored. The Sigma Plan also includes a focus on the economic role the of Scheldt as one of Europe's busiest navigable rivers.
The Lippenbroek Sigma Project is a pilot project to test the innovative concept developed by Flanders to combine safety and the restoration of nature. In March 2006, this former polder was put into service as a flood control area with reduced tides (CRT).
The ScheldeMonitor is a Flemish-Dutch data and information portal on the research and monitoring in the Scheldt estuary. This portal offers you an overview of the monitoring and research efforts and an extensive collection of literature. Besides information, data and data products derived from various data sources can also be accessed. This portal centralizes all data from the MONEOS programme.
In the Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission (VNSC) Flanders and the Netherlands work together for a sustainable and vital estuary. With major economic and natural values, the estuary is of vital importance for the environment. The area has many advantages, but there are also many challenges to address. In 2005 Flanders and the Netherlands joined a convention on cooperation on policy and management of the Scheldt estuary. The treaty became effective in 2008, the start of the VNSC. The "Agenda for the Future" develops VNSC tools to improve management and policies of the Scheldt. OMES is part of the MONEOS program (of the group O&M), which collects water quality data.
The website www.waterinfo.be is the key source for information on floods, tides, rain and drought. The different water managers bring measurements and predictions together and inform with detailed maps and charts on the waterlevels in Flanders.
The geoloket of VMM offers four monitoring networks: monitoring network surface water, waste water monitoring network, monitoring network overflows and sediment monitoring network. All results can be found here.