Cuijk on the Maas

High water on the Maas at Cuijk. The name Cuijk is derived from the Celtic word 'Keukja', which means 'curvature' or 'curve'. This indicates the curvature or bend in the Meuse at Cuijk. 'Keukja' was later corrupted by the Romans to 'Ceuclum', from which eventually the name Cuijk arose. The Meuse is regularly higher than average in the winter months, but now the Meuse is against the flood plain. A little while and we can only look at the water from the dike. The Meuse is a rain river whose level is heavily dependent on rain. As a result, the Meuse is high in the winter, while in the summer it is often almost dry. Most rain comes from the French and Belgian Ardennes, but the surface is too rocky to store a lot of water. In winter, there is little vegetation and there are periods of thaw. Also hardly any moisture evaporates. Finally, the relief of the Meuse basin is very large, so that the water is drained at great speed. De Maas (French: Meuse) is a 950 kilometer long river in Western Europe. The Maas originates in France and then flows through Belgium and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the Meuse is the southernmost of the major rivers and flows into the Dutch delta in the North Sea.