The Dutch are famous for their water management. And considering 55 percent of their country is below sea level, they’d be a marshy remnant of history if they weren’t so good at it. Louisiana, faced with its own water woes, is looking to learn a few things.

This week, a delegation led by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is visiting the Netherlands to pick up some crucial information: water management in the face of climate change. According to ClimateWire, the party also includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator and members of the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s Landrieu’s second business visit to the Netherlands — the first came after Hurricane Katrina.

The delegation started its tour in Amsterdam, where officials expect rising sea levels, greater river discharges and heavier rains to test the existing system in the future. To back up the traditional Dutch triple threat of dunes, dikes and pumps, Amsterdam features several distinctive ways to manage urban storm water, including storage sites on rooftops and under buildings, as well as plans for large “plastic boxes” of water under “floating sports fields.”

The Louisianan delegation’s itinerary also included a stop in IJburg, a new neighborhood near Amsterdam being built on artificial islands (it’s not a coincidence Dubai turns to Dutch designers to plan its own floating islands). Next up will be trips to The Hague, Rotterdam and Delft for more lessons and explanations. According to Landrieu, the collaboration between Dutch and American engineers, politicians, scientists and designers has “exploded into a variety of ad hoc relationships.” There’s something pleasantly old-fashioned about two countries sharing information and advice about an issue as decidedly modern as global warming.

Find out more:
What is a levee?
How Floods Work
What is a green roof?
Geography of the Netherlands