Imre Hubai: One billion cubic meters more water is being retained in the landscape than ever before

(Photo: Pixabay)

At the Water Management Professional Forum organized by the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development and Ferenc Szalay, Ministerial Commissioner responsible for the development of Szolnok and its region, Imre Hubai said: the government is using every means to help regional water management actors so that they can preserve their precipitation reserves that fall to the surface and store them locally. He called the change in attitude inevitable, as climatic conditions seem to have changed not only in Hungary, Europe, but also throughout the world in recent decades. He added that not only flood and inland water protection, but also water shortage damage prevention should be included among the priorities. He called the first and most important result of the program that there were four months this summer when less water flowed out of the rivers than came in – he said. Even more water will be able to be retained if gravity outlets are created from the rivers – he added. The sector could only supplement the low rainfall with artificial replenishment, including from this one billion cubic meters, which was how the impact of the drought could be mitigated, yield stability achieved, and Hungary’s food sovereignty – said Hubai Imre.

The government provided irrigation water to farmers for free, thereby protecting jobs and mitigating food inflation

Hubai Imre noted that due to the mistaken sanctions policy of the Russian-Ukrainian war, energy sources are so “mercilessly” expensive, and this is driving inflation forward. “In Brussels, they would even criticize Hungary for striving for the country’s security of supply,” the state secretary noted. Those who criticize the government’s efforts to conserve water and the use of resources “throw a glove in the eyes” of those who make a living by providing us with healthy, high-quality Hungarian food, he emphasized. He added that the vast majority of society supports making water resources that can be conserved through food supply, climate protection and the protection of landscape ecosystems available to everyone at a fair price. According to him, this is an achievement in Hungary that not every European Union country can boast of. The implementation of flood and inland water protection works would have placed a great burden on Hungary if European Union funds had not been available, he said. For storing water in the landscape, the water sector and national parks are planning further interventions from the Environmental and Energy Efficiency Operational Programme, which will provide an order of magnitude more space for retaining water – he informed. He said that since 2020, the Central Tisza valley has lacked approximately one year’s worth of precipitation, and most of the remaining amount does not fall during the vegetation period. The Tisza’s water yield this year was only half of the great drought of 2022 – he said. The Danube’s water yield was also roughly one-third less. More than half of Europe experienced a drought this year, one-third of which was worse than in Hungary – he said.

MTI