Long-Term Water Crisis Warning in Hungary - 'Desert-Like Conditions'?
- 1 Aug 2026 12:46 PM
Hungary must prepare for a long-term water shortage as climate change and increasingly dry conditions place growing pressure on the country's water resources, Environment Minister Laszlo Gajdos has warned.
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.
MTI Stock Photo
Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.
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