The birth of the idea for a study tour to The Netherlands developed after former Assistant Professor Jennifer Brooke began research on the condition of the reclaimed land in the San Francisco Bay Area.

After Hurricane Katrina occurred in the Mississippi Delta, the department decided to concentrate efforts on the California Delta, which is formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.

In 2006, a tour of The Netherlands was planned in order to offer insight for design and planning in the California Delta. Holland has a long administrative history that deals with land and water issues in the Rhine River Delta, and this is reflected in their standards for levee construction and water management. Led by Professor Brooke and Professor Peter Bosselmann, 15 students visited a number of informative sites including the Westergasfabriek Culture Park (a former gas factory turned public park), Ijburg, a proposed archipelago of eight islands that will provide new land for housing, commercial use and recreational space, and new public parks and housing projects throughout Amsterdam and Rotterdam.