Speaker: James Lowery
“Water, Water Everywhere: The Netherlands (Holland) -- A Country Below Sea Level Where the Past Meets the Future,” presented by James Lowery. Mr. Lowery has spoken to our group several times and is a very popular speaker. This is a general presentation about this visually stunning country, and the presentation will include how The Netherlands handles water in a country below sea level. It will cover many things that they are doing there that we in the United States should be doing and could learn from them. The people and governments of the Netherlands understand how to live with water instead of against it.
James Lowery is former Director of Management Support Services, University of Birmingham. His wide-ranging interests include constructed wetlands, the La Brea Tar pits, and a large crater in Alabama. He has given talks on these interests to our club in previous years.
Sponsored by Alan Schmidt
Program: Water, Water Everywhere: The Netherlands (Holland)
Speaker: James Lowery, previous Scientech Club speaker on Antarctica, the Wetumpka meteor crater, the La Brea Tar Pits, and wetlands construction for water filtration
Introduction By: Dr. Alan Dale Schmidt
Attendance: NESC: 101; Zoom:28
Guests: Peggy Lowery, Dean Pfeifer, Bruce Fulling, Andy Duncan
Scribe: Dr. Alan Dale Schmidt
Editor: Ed Nitka
Talk’s Zoom recording found at: https://www.scientechclubvideos.org/zoom/10122026.mp4
Speaker James Lowery is former Director of Management Support Services, University of Birmingham. His wide-ranging interests include constructed wetlands, the La Brea Tar pits, Antarctica, and the Wetumpka Crater in Alabama. He has given talks on these interests to our club in previous years.
Mr. Lowery described how the Netherlands manages water in a country below sea level. He covered many things they are doing there that the United States should be doing and could learn from. The people and governments of the Netherlands understand how to live with water instead of against it.
Rotterdam is the third largest seaport in the world and the largest in Europe. A polder is land drained and reclaimed from the North Sea and now part of the Netherlands. Making polders was the purpose for building the dikes and having the windmills since the 1200s. Their government is a constitutional monarchy. Multi-colored carrots were the norm before the Dutch stabilized the orange carrot for major production.
The Netherlands is the largest grower and distributor of flowers in the world. They raise many colorful tulip varieties. Bricks have been made for centuries from the high clay content soil. Bricks installed on end or side without mortar, are used for streets and sidewalks for increased durability. There are more bicycles in the Netherlands than people. A canal lock operator’s house built in 1695 is now a restaurant; the desire for reuse is part of the culture. Farmers wear wooden shoes because of the water-soaked land destroys leather and for protection from animal hoofs. The Lowery’s saw a Monkey Puzzle Tree, a living fossil, the most primitive living conifer. Most cities they visited had a very old city gate, some dating from medieval times. Narrow, vertical slits in the walls for guns to shoot out through are called loopholes, and the gates have been repurposed too. Of 10,000 original windmills, about 1,000 remain, some have an Archimedes screw to pump water, some for grinding grain and some for sawmills. Improvements made to handle rising sea level can be, and should be, beautiful amenities and useful for local residents.
What can we in the United States learn from the Netherlands?
• Windmills and wind-generated power; use what you have as not to aggravate climate change.
• Use of bicycles. Cleaner mobility with a reduced parking footprint.
• Use of very small cars.
• Reuse of old buildings for other purposes instead of tearing them down.
• Bricks installed on ends or edges, without mortar, are used for streets and sidewalks to minimize upkeep.
• “Meet Punt” (meeting point or mark point) disks in dikes and sidewalks to mark underground structures such as utilities. (Recent New Orleans installations by the Water Board and the Gas Company, AND I have seen some in a brick sidewalk in the UAB area!)
• Levee/Dike construction without concrete.
• Levee/Dike protection with vertical poles driven into soil or with jetties.
• Water pumps based on “Archimedes Screw” to move a lot of water fast.
• Houses AND apartment buildings that will float are being built in flood-prone areas along rivers. Dutch Dialogues – New Orleans & Charleston
• Linden trees pruned for shade and wind protection.
• Wildlife Crossings (Ecoducts) and lots over & under highways and canals.
• Rainwater cistern under old church supplied water for the town.
• Plan ahead for the effects of Global Climate Change.
One of the main things: Learn to live with water instead of against it.
Scientech and Scientech Foundation at Celebrate Science Indiana
Scientech and Scientech Foundation had a hypercube soap film and density exhibit at Celebrate Science Indiana October 10, 2026, at the Indiana State Fair grounds that was a delight to children and adults. Information on Scientech programs and the Scientech Foundation were available. The adjacent booth had James and Peggy Lowery displaying Antarctica penguin adventures with 279 people stopping by.
James Lowery
