Hungary’s interior ministry issues drought alert – UPDATE

The interior ministry has issued a drought alert for the whole country starting on Monday.

According to the ministry, a lack of rain in recent weeks has now reduced humidity in the upper layers of the soil below 40 percent.

Soils have not been able to replenish due to lack of winter precipitation, and are drying out due to increasing rainfall deficits.

Significant, nationwide precipitation is still not expected, with mostly sunny, dry and warm weather forecast, increasing water scarcity and posing a serious problem for the development of the autumn crops.

Under the alert, farmers have been allowed to use surface waters for irrigation without applying for a permit and paying a fee.

• read also: It seems that Lake Velence will not dry out yet

Govt to spend HUF 200 bn on water system rehabilitation in S Hungary

The government will plough 200 billion forints (EUR 532.1m) into rehabilitating the water system of an arid region in southern Hungary, in the next eight years, István Láng, the head of the General Directorate of Water Management said in a talk with President János Áder.

In his Blue Planet (Kék bolygó) podcast broadcast on Monday, Áder said the development is expected to help the region retain its residents and revive wildlife, by creating marshes and lakes. Water quality will improve, as will revenues from agriculture, he said.

He noted that the UN has declared the region between the Danube and Tisza rivers a semi-desert. Dwindling water reserves are due to climate change and to forestation aimed to tie down the sand providing the soil of the region, as well as to human water usage, he said.

Láng said water supplies would be replenished from the Danube and Tisza, purifyied waste water and from ground waters.

Áder said the development, scheduled until 2030, is expected to show the first results within 4-5 years.