Ecological water replenishment has begun on the Ős-Sárvíz River

(Photo: Pixabay)

Secretary Imre Hubai said that the water replenishment is being implemented with the support of the 4.7 billion forint Water into the Landscape! program. The intervention will deliver 100 liters of water per second to the Ős-Sárvíz River, thanks to which the fish population will be saved and the ecosystem in the Natura 2000 area will be preserved – he added. He emphasized that the water sector can do the most to combat the consequences of the drought and the extraordinary lack of precipitation that have been ongoing since last year with immediate interventions and a change in attitude to improve the condition of the infrastructure. Water management no longer considers the drainage of flood waves as its basic task, but is now also working on retaining water and storing it in the landscape. From now on, the structures, equipment, specialists, and coverage must be prepared so that water management can perform ecological water replenishment as a basic task. He noted that the water resources accumulated in the Ős-Sárvíz also help the region with local precipitation generated by warm, humid, rising air currents, which also mitigates the crop loss caused by the extraordinary lack of precipitation. As you can see, the corn that is currently blooming next to the backwater will yield an excellent crop even without irrigation. He said that such interventions will be the “great hopes of the future” in the fight against climate change. Some of the water pumped into the backwater evaporates, while others seep into the soil and become available for plants, so thanks to evaporation, it contributes to cooling the landscape – he said. The government has included the ecological water replenishment of fish ponds and fishing lakes among the basic tasks of water management, and at the same time, in addition to the coordination of the OVF, it has also provided the source – he added. Angéla Horváth, director of the KDVI, said that the directorate has built a 600-meter pipeline from the Nádor Canal to the Ős-Sárvíz, and thanks to the pumping that began on July 1, the water level of the backwater has risen by 10 centimeters so far. The water replenishment is planned to be carried out by pumping 12 hours a day until the end of July, and the level of the Holt-Sárvíz may rise by 40-50 centimeters. He said that the task of the water sector is now to maintain the waters, and for this purpose, cooperation with local organizations must be sought; in the case of Sárvíz, KDVI is implementing the project together with the Szedres and the Region Fishing Association and the Szedresi Sziget Association.

Béla Benke, president of the Szedresi Sziget Association, said that without increasing the water level, a catastrophic situation would arise on the backwater

János Erdélyesi, president of the fishing association, explained that the organization manages 14 hectares of the 50-hectare area of ​​the Ős-Sárvíz. Currently, about 60 centimeters are missing from saturation. To the north of the section that is now to be filled, there is a drying riverbed system, which was the riverbed before the Sárvíz regulation, and it could store about 800 thousand cubic meters of water, he said. Imre Hubai also spoke about the fact that the excess water flow resulting from the 45-60 mm that fell in the cross-border section of the watershed and the 20-50 mm of precipitation that has fallen so far in the domestic Tisza watershed area will be stored in the Upper Tisza, Lake Tisza, in the Jászság, Nagykunság, Tiszafüred and TIKEVIR systems, and, continuing with the economical use of water and strict schedule distribution, the irrigation systems will be replenished.

A further 20-60 mm of rain is expected in Hungary and in the cross-border areas, which could cause an additional water flow of up to 50-100 cubic meters per second on the river

Over the next 1-2 weeks, the population may already experience an increased water level in the middle and lower sections of the Tisza. All this is also important for the drinking water supply of Szolnok, where a special program is being prepared to increase operational safety. Thanks to the 178 million cubic meters of excess water stored in this way, the supply of free irrigation water to farmers is still ensured, as well as the ecological water replenishment, water retention and the Water in the Landscape! program. In this way, the government can do the most for the farmers most at risk from this year’s extraordinary drought and lack of precipitation. He said that more than 880 water experts are still working on the implementation of the Water in the Landscape! program, with 190 machines and 172 pumps.

MTI