A Step from Vulnerability to Resilience: Restoring the Landscape Water-Storage Capacity of the Great Hungarian Plain—An Assessment and a Proposal

Gábor Timár (), Gusztáv Jakab and Balázs Székely
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Gábor Timár: Department of Geophysics and Space Science, Institute of Geography and Earth Science, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Gusztáv Jakab: Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Balázs Székely: Department of Geophysics and Space Science, Institute of Geography and Earth Science, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: The extreme drought in Europe in 2022 also hit hard the Great Hungarian Plain. In this short overview article, we summarize the natural environmental conditions of the region and the impact of river control works on the water-retention capacity of the landscape. In this respect, we also review the impact of intensive agricultural cultivation on soil structure and on soil moisture in light of the meteorological elements of the 2022 drought. The most important change is that the soil stores much less moisture than in the natural state; therefore, under the meteorological conditions of summer 2022, the evapotranspiration capacity was reduced. As a result, the low humidity in the air layers above the ground is not sufficient to trigger summer showers and thunderstorms associated with weather fronts and local heat convection anymore. Our proposed solution is to restore about one-fifth of the area to the original land types and usage before large-field agriculture. Low-lying areas should be transformed into a mosaic-like landscape with good water supply and evapotranspiration capacity to humidify the lower air layers. Furthermore, the unfavorable soil structure that has resulted from intensive agriculture should also be converted into more permeable soil to enhance infiltration.

Keywords: Hungary; drought; soil structure; evapotranspiration; climate change; induced rainfall (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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