The development aimed at creating a balance between drainage and water retention in the Great Plain has been completed

(Photo: PIxabay)

Attila Berkó added that the project was created with a non-refundable grant of HUF 6.021 billion from the European Union and the Hungarian state, which was implemented by the National Water Directorate General (OVF) and a consortium of five regional water directorates, and which aims to more effectively manage the consequences of extreme weather caused by climate change The main goal of the investment was to develop the water resources management of the given region in the long term in accordance with the increasing water retention needs due to the increasingly frequent extreme weather, he confirmed. This includes water retention, runoff regulation and the satisfaction of various water needs, for which the necessary water management artefacts and facilities were built, developed or reconstructed, he said. In addition to these, an additional indirect goal is the protection of water ecosystems and wetlands, as well as the creation of infrastructural conditions that support the performance of water management tasks, he added.

Imre Hubai, the chairman of the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Assembly, said: this project was realized with the cooperation of five water management directorates

This also shows that the needs of individual regional units cannot be singled out, but that the challenges facing the watershed must always be monitored in a complex manner, and they must be solved together. He added that the farmers in the field must be prepared, that the paradigm shift has come not only in water use and water application, but also in the cultural change. The latter, from the point of view of Hungary’s security of supply, “will be an unavoidable issue in the future”, he pointed out. Attila Lovas, the director of the Central Tisza Region Water Directorate (Kötivizig) spoke about the development and reconstruction of the Villogó internal water channel in the areas of Karcag, Kunhegyes and Abádszalók. The other project element was the bed development and reconstruction of the canals of the Örvényabád inland water system located on the eastern shore of Lake Tisza, which affected the settlements of Abádszalók, Tiszaderzs, Tiszaszentimre, Tiszaszőlős, Tiszaigar and Tiszaörs, he said.

According to the announcement sent to MTI, several projects were implemented at the same time

In addition to the above, the expansion of the functions of the Bácsborsód reservoir, the rehabilitation of the Harangod reservoir and the Kállai main stream, the reconstruction of the Hejő main channel and the first phase of the complex reconstruction of the Hódmezővásárhely regional water system were implemented. By improving the flow parameters of inland canals, the water carrying capacity of the canals increases, the usable water supply also increases, and the adverse effects resulting from harmful excess water are reduced. The newly built water level control and water management structures, as well as the functional expansion and restoration of the existing structures, help with water retention, water replacement and protection against damage, and also improve the water balance in the given area. The project promotes the temporal and spatial utilization of stored natural water resources, contributes to the reduction of inland water risks, thereby mitigating the extreme effects of climate change (damages from heavy rains, periods of drought), the announcement states. Consortium member water directorates directly affected by the project: Lower Danube Valley (to Aduvizi), Upper Tisza Region (to Fetivizi), Northern Hungary (to Emvizi), Central Tisza Region (to Kötivizi) and Lower Tisza Region Water Directorate (to Ativiz).

MTI