The Dutch policy arrangements that deal with flood risks are in a process of change. Over the past decades, the prevention of floods was the central objective; nowadays the focus has shifted towards ’flood risk management’. This implies a significant change in the institutions of flood prevention; the ‘rules of the game’. Rules that for a long time went without saying are now under discussion and responsibilities are to be reallocated among the public and private actors involved. For example, the idea that the government should always guarantee safety against flooding of every inhabitant is under revision, and the safety norms as such will be altered as well. In addition to just flood prevention, the new policy also takes into account two other ‘layers’ of flood risk management: spatial planning, and the preparedness to deal with floods among civilians and local authorities. In this article we analyse the shift from the traditional to new institutional arrangements of Dutch flood risk management and what that means for local governments in terms of politics, policy and management. From policy documents and interviews we interpreted the ideas of local and regional civil servants and administrators. We expect tensions between the layers of flood risk management: between the collective and individual interests and between the different tasks, roles and mandates of officials with regard to the three layers