The Netherlands has over 7,000 natural grass and 2,300 synthetic turf football fields, while the number of synthetic turf hockey fields is estimated to be 800. Historically, these systems have been designed to drain water as quickly as possible and to divert it to ponds or channels. However, as this country is increasingly dealing with short periods of heavy precipitation as well as prolonged periods of drought, the official line has now become to harvest water and to it store onsite where possible. Diverting water to ponds or channels has now become a last resort. Storing water onsite relieves the burden on the infrastructure during peak rains and enables clubs to use that water at a later stage when there is a dire need. The importance of this should not be underestimated, as researcher Ruud Bartholomeus of Wageningen University warned late last year. “Sudden downpours after an extended period of drought will not replenish ground water levels immediately, as there is always a delaying effect. In 2018, the Netherlands experienced three dry periods, but in terms of groundwater level, there was one continuous period of drought that year.” The disruptive effect of this on the water balance was enormous. Where Dutch farmers used 20 million cubic metres of groundwater to irrigate their crops in 2017, their demand for water shot up to 150 million cubic metres the following year.