The flood disaster of 1953 and the Christmas flood of 1954 made clear that something had to be done. In 1958 the New Delta Law ordered a reinforcement of the dikes in the north of the Netherlands. At the Lauwers Sea there were two options: to reinforce the existing dikes around the Lauwers Sea (32 km of dikes) or to make a 13 km dam separating the Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea. After a study found that the 13 km dike plan was more expensive than the 32 km plan, the government decided on the cheaper option.