The Veerse Meer (Lake Veere) is a lagoon in the southwest Netherlands in the province of Zeeland.
The Veerse Meer was created as a flood control measure to regulate water levels in the surrounding polders, acting as a drainage basin for the surrounding polders until its excess waters can be discharged into the Eastern Scheldt.
[2] Originally an outlet of the Scheldt called the Veerse Gat to the west which met with the Zandkreek to the east, it was first closed off from the Scheldt by the Zandkreekdam in 1960, and from the North Sea in 1961 by Veerse Gatdam, some of the first constructions of the Delta Works water management system.
[3][2] In 2004, the Katse Heule sluice was constructed in the Zanderkreekdam to allow saltwater to flow in from the Eastern Scheldt to improve water quality and return this former river mouth to its original brackish state.
Some of its banks, underwater at high tide, have been made into nature reserves, while others are popular for water sports, such as sailing.