Impact of climate change on Hungarian Water Management Strategy

Abstract

One of the pillars of the Hungarian Water Strategy is preparing for the expected effects of climate change. Changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of water is the major challenge for Hungarian Water Management Service. Hungary is threatened by the phenomenon of water surplus and water scarcity at the same time, and making efforts to overcome all these is not only engineering task. As the impacts of climate change are getting more powerful the situation gets more complicated. The three biggest floods on the Danube happened in the last two decades, whereas on the Tisza four record breaking flood occurred within 36 month around the millennium. The floods of the past 20 years made it clear that extreme floods have to be reckoned with in Hungary. The extremities affecting the economy made the Hungarian water management reforms necessary. The periods of water surplus have resulted in extreme floods in streams over the past 20 years. The increasing flash floods have multiplied local water damages, and the frequency of urban floods has reached unprecedented levels.