The north flank of the Hondsrug ridge forms a steep border to the low-lying, wet, peaty landscape of the Hunze Valley. After the penultimate Ice Age, the primeval valley of the Hunze Valley was filled with fine sand, and later covered with thick pillows of raised bog. Now there is a low peaty landscape which, in the area around the Zuidlaardermeer lake, is largely set up as a nature reserve. The wish to allow this area to benefit from the seepage water from the Hondsrug ridge is at odds with the extraction of Groningen drinking water, which takes place here too. Although the Hunze Valley borders the towns of Hoogezand, Haren and Groningen, the area is not easily accessible; this is the point where city and nature reserve back on to each other.

Due to reduced rainfall and increased evaporation during summer, parts of the Northern Netherlands are threatening to dry out during the summer. The fresh water supply from the IJsselmeer to these areas will become increasingly uncertain in the future. In the winter, the excess rainfall is drained away to the Wadden Sea; a process that is becoming more difficult due to the rising sea level. This in turn is going to cause a water safety problem. In the Hunze Valley, enough fresh water needs to be stored to prevent the peat from oxidating, to extract thirty percent more drinking water and to be able to export fresh water to surrounding areas.