István Nagy: comprehensive water management must be implemented

This year's drought also draws attention to a long-standing and increasingly pressing problem, i.e. that a change of attitude is also needed in domestic water management, stressed István Nagy in an interview with the Pestisrácok portal.

The Minister of Agriculture explained: this means that, in contrast to earlier ideas, the task today is not to quickly divert the rainwater from the territory of Hungary by squeezing it between high dams, but to see how we can store it in the reservoir during times of high water, i.e. preserve the precipitation, and with that for the rest of the year to farm. As he pointed out, we currently receive less water than we emit. At the same time, he emphasized: with the coordination of the Ministry of the Interior, eight reservoirs were built in the country in recent years, with a total maximum reservoir capacity of five million cubic meters.

It must also be taken into account that it is increasingly difficult to irrigate from groundwater, from the drinking water supply, since the groundwater level is falling, so this solution is not sustainable. In the future, irrigation will only be possible from surplus water, from water stored during periods of high water, so the construction of reservoirs and canals is necessary.

The minister emphasized that the coordination of the change of attitude is the responsibility of the National Directorate General of Water Affairs, since the Ministry of Agriculture is involved in the tertiary canals, but that the water enters the canals by building the appropriate main works is the responsibility of the Directorate General of Water Affairs.

This is a huge state infrastructure development, but at the same time, if we think that if it rains at a good time, it means an extra HUF 1,000 billion in corn revenue in the budget - if it is bad, it means minus HUF 1,000 billion - then you can immediately feel that just this one item the content of VAT is also significant for the budget. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carry out these state investments, to complete the main state works - emphasized the Minister of Agriculture.

the entire interview on the PestiSrácok portal.