Speaking from the National Water Management Coordination Centre, Gajdos said rainfall levels remain insufficient across the Danube and Tisza river basins, leaving rivers with reduced inflows and limiting the natural replenishment of surface waters.

He warned that water scarcity is becoming a long-term challenge rather than a temporary consequence of the current heatwave. 

According to the minister, Hungary needs to adapt to changing climate conditions and rethink how water resources are managed.

"If anyone still thought there was no climate change, if anyone did not believe that processes on Earth have changed completely, they can now see that we are in serious trouble," Gajdos said.

In his strongest warning, the minister said: "Within a few years, as many as one million people in Hungary could be living in desert-like conditions."

The statement refers to the growing risk of increasingly dry regions where prolonged drought, declining groundwater levels, reduced rainfall and rising temperatures could make conditions more difficult for agriculture, ecosystems and communities.

Hungary is already seeing signs of increasing water stress, with lower river levels, drier soils and more frequent periods of extreme heat placing additional pressure on water supplies. 

Experts have previously warned that parts of the country, particularly the Great Plain, are among the areas most vulnerable to drought and long-term climate impacts.

Gajdos said urgent action is needed to address these challenges, adding that water management will become one of Hungary's most important environmental issues in the coming years.

Tanacs: Govt plans 'strong, integrated' water science centre

Work will soon begin on establishing a strong, integrated, and internationally recognised water science centre, Zoltan Tanacs, the science and technology Minister, said on Facebook on Monday, noting that the Fidesz government shut down the Water Management Research Institute (VITUKI) in 2012, which meant that Hungary lost its primary hub for water research.

In his post, Tanacs said that the previous government had deemed the institute "unnecessary" and stopped funding its operations.

The minister wrote that for decades, VITUKI had been the cornerstone of Hungary's water management, serving as the country's primary scientific, engineering, and information hub.

It linked continuous monitoring, data collection, basic and applied research, modelling, flood and water-level forecasting, water quality analysis, and the scientific preparation of government decisions, he said.

"We could have made great use of an institute specialising in water management, drought, related risks, and solutions in recent years," Tanacs added.

He noted that at the time of its closure, serious professional debates emerged, with critics arguing that Hungary had lost its integrated institutional centre for water research. VITUKI's experts, tasks, and data assets were dispersed among various organisations, he said.

"In the coming decades, Hungary's security will increasingly depend on how much water we have, where it is located, its quality, how it can be retained, and the scientific basis for related decision-making."

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

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