KISKUNMAISHA, Hungary (AP) — Oscar Nagyapati climbed to the bottom of a sand pit on his land in Great Hungarian Plain and dug his hand into the soil, searching for signs of groundwater, which had been receding more and more rapidly in recent years.
“It's much worse, and it's getting worse every year,” he said as cloudy liquid slowly seeped into the hole. “Where did all that water go? It's incredible.”
Nagyapati watched with alarm as the region of southern Hungary, once an important agricultural region, became increasingly arid and arid. Where fields were once filled with a variety of crops and grasses, today there are wide cracks in the soil and sand dunes that look more like Sahara Desert than Central Europe.
Semiarid region
The region, known as Homokhátság, has been described by some studies as semi-arid – a distinction more common in parts of Africa, the American southwest or the Australian outback – and is characterized by very little rainfall, dry wells and groundwater levels sinking deeper underground.
In a 2017 paper published in the scientific journal European Countryside, researchers cited “the combined effects of climate change, poor land use and poor environmental management” as the reasons for the drying out of Homohatsaga, a phenomenon the paper's authors called unique in this part of the continent.
Fields that in previous centuries were regularly flooded by the Danube and Tisza rivers have become virtually unsuitable for growing crops and wildlife due to a combination of droughts linked to climate change and poor water retention practices.
“Water Guardians”
Now a group of farmers and other volunteers led by Nagyapati is trying to save the region and its lands from drying out completely, using a resource for which Hungary is famous: thermal water.
“I was thinking about what could be done, how we could bring water back or somehow create water in the landscape,” Nagyapati told The Associated Press. “There was a moment when I felt enough was enough. We really need to put an end to this. And that’s when we started our project to flood some areas so that the water would remain on the plain.”
Along with a group of volunteer “water guardians,” Nagyapati began negotiations with authorities and the local thermal spa last year, hoping to redirect the resort's overflow water, which would normally flow unused into a canal, onto their land. Thermal water is extracted very deep underground.
Simulation of natural flood
Under the water conservators' plan, the cooled and treated water would be used to flood a 2.5-hectare (6-acre) low-lying field – a way to mimic the natural flood cycle that would cause rivers to run dry.
“When the flood is over and the water recedes, there will be 2.5 hectares of water surface in this area,” Nagyapati said. “It would be quite a shocking sight in our arid region.”
A 2024 study by Hungary's Eötvös Loránd University found that unusually dry surface air in the region prevented incoming storm fronts from producing precipitation. Instead, the fronts will pass through without rain, bringing strong winds that will further dry out the topsoil.
Creating a microclimate
The water guardians hoped that by artificially flooding certain areas they would not only raise the groundwater level, but also, through surface evaporation, create a microclimate that could increase humidity, reduce temperature and dust, and also positively affect nearby vegetation.
Tamás Tóth, a meteorologist in Hungary, said that because of the potential impact such wetlands could have on the surrounding climate, water retention “is simply a key issue in the coming years and for future generations because climate change doesn't seem to be stopping.”
“The atmosphere continues to warm, and with it the distribution of precipitation, both seasonal and annual, has become very unsettled and is expected to become even more unsettled in the future,” he said.
“Immeasurable Happiness”
After another hot, dry summer this year, water guards blocked several locks along the canal and reused spa water began to slowly pool in the low-lying field.
After a couple of months, the field was almost full. Near the site in early December, Nagyapati said the resulting shallow swamp “may seem very small, but it brings us great happiness here in the desert.”
He said the added water would have a “huge impact” over a radius of about 4 kilometers (2½ miles) “not only on vegetation but also on the water balance of the soil. We hope the groundwater level will also increase.”
Drought Task Force
Persistent droughts on the Great Hungarian Plain threaten desertification, a process in which vegetation declines due to extreme heat and low rainfall. Weather-damaged crops have caused significant damage to the country's overall gross domestic product, prompting the Prime Minister Victor Orban to announce the creation of a “drought task force” this year to address the problem.
After the water guards' first attempt to mitigate the growing problem in their area, they said they noticed a noticeable improvement in the groundwater level, as well as an increase in flora and fauna near the flood site.
The group of more than 30 volunteers would like to expand the project to include another flooded field and hope their efforts can inspire others to take similar action to conserve their most precious resource.
“This initiative can serve as an example for everyone, we need more and more such efforts,” Nagyapati said. “We saved water from the resort, but saving any water, be it in a village or town, is a great opportunity to replenish water supplies.”
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