The drought protection was effective

(Photo: AM)

The State Secretary said at the forum that the government had provided funds allocated for water retention based on the Drought Protection Action Plan (AVAT) adopted in May. Thanks to this, the most important interventions had taken place by October 31, including water construction investments and other interventions to expand water supply, which totaled 3.17 billion forints. In addition, the filling of backwaters until the maximum reservoir capacity was reached, with approximately 1.52 billion forints, he added. He explained that, based on the measures taken, the water retained in the riverbed was more than 203 million cubic meters in total. The water retained in backwaters and reservoirs exceeded 156 million cubic meters. The water retained through landscape flooding amounted to almost 1.5 million cubic meters. While the water stored in the reservoirs of the dams was 689.5 million cubic meters. In addition, the additional canal section included in water replenishment within the framework of the water system development reached 848 kilometers. Furthermore, the area affected by the water system development interventions increased by more than 114 thousand hectares. The number of people working in drought management exceeded a thousand people. At the event, the Secretary of State also mentioned that irrigated areas increased by 10% in 2025 compared to previous years. The area covered by permits issued to meet extraordinary irrigation needs exceeded 10 thousand hectares. Hungarian farmers can continue to count on the government in everything in the future, whether it is drought protection or even water conservation – underlined Imre Hubai.

AM