Azerbaijani flood contract won by Deltares & Royal Haskoning

Royal Haskoning and specialist Dutch consultancy Deltares have been appointed by the government of Azerbaijan to develop an action plan to prevent a repeat of flooding experienced last spring. The contract is part of broader co-operation between the Netherlands and Azerbaijan focusing on water management and flood protection. An interim action plan for spring 2011 will be put in place, with longer-term solutions developed over time. According to Royal Haskoning, the contract’s total value is likely to be “several million euros”. Two Azerbaijani rivers that originate in the Caucasus mountains and empty into the Caspian sea, the Araz and Kura, burst their banks last spring as a result of heavy rainfall and the poor state of dykes.