The objectives are far from being achieved. Implementation of these policies has met with difficulties and in the lower-lying western and northern parts of the country appears to have ground to a halt. The budget for water-level management projects has not even been fully spent.

Groundwater levels in the Netherlands are regulated by land drains, ditches, canals, dams and pumps. TheGGOR, Gewenste Grond- en Oppervlaktewater Regime) stipulates the desired range of groundwater levels, reflecting a balance of all the various user interests in the water level, such as nature conservation, agriculture and urban areas.
The approach taken under GGOR seems in theory to be the right one for the restoration of water tables. In practice, however, it is difficult to implement and will probably lead to further delays in the execution of policy.  There are three present opportunities to breathe new life into the restoration of lowered water tables.
1. The ‘Reconstruction of Rural Areas’ programme. It served originally to prevent the spread of livestock diseases, but now also to obtain a better spatial distribution of agriculture and nature.
2.  The European Water Framework Directive
3. ‘National Water Agreement’  (Nationaal Bestuursaccoord Water), an administrative agreement between central and regional government for drawing up a water management regime. This includes forward planning to deal with the influence of climate change, which is expected to cause greater extremes in river discharges.

The biggest environmental problem in the lakes, most of which fall under the BHD, is the high phosphorus load. Under current fertilizer policies, soils are becoming increasingly saturated with phosphate. As a result, phosphorus leaching to surface waters will remain a problem for a long time to come, and will even get worse.