The water shortage in the Netherlands has been alleviated by recent rainfall.

However, the department of waterways and public works said on Friday that most of the precautionary measures taken in the past few months will remain in place as ground water levels are still not back to normal. 
   
The shortfall between precipitation and evaporation is now 134 millimetres, down from 150 millimetres last week. The water levels in the river Rhine are also expected to rise in the coming days, but will remain twice as low as normal at this time of year. The Netherlands is to a large extent dependent on the Rhine and the Maas for its drinking water supply.

(gsh)

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