Author(s)

L. Szlavik

Abstract

Between 1998 and 2001, four abnormal flood waves have passed down the River Tisza. The total costs of flood fighting, emergency measures and reconstruction have amounted to some €440 million. The government has approved of the conceptual plan of enhancing flood safety in the Tisza Valley and obliged the competent ministries to elaborate detailed plans for Stage I of the development program. The development proposal comprises a complex program, which goes beyond the creation of a higher level of flood safety; the improvement of the living standards of the rural and urban population in the region and the formulation and introduction of new types of agro-ecological land use in the area of the emergency flood retention reservoirs. In Stage I, which covers the years 2004 to 2007, the proposed flood safety enhancement measures include the restoration of the flow conveying capacity of the flood bed, the conservation oriented revitalisation thereof along the Upper Tisza, as well as along that between Szolnok town and the southern national boundary. Work will also be started on the emergency retention reservoirs, of which six are contemplated at strategic sites. The costs of the first four years have been estimated at €480 million, one-half thereof devoted to flood control measures, the other to rural development, agro-ecological farming and infrastructure modernisation projects. The Strategic Environmental Assessment has been completed to EU standards, the rural and regional development opportunities related to the program have been explored together with the demands for intensifying economy and improving the infrastructure. Work on the first reservoirs and on clearing the high-water bed has been scheduled to start in autumn 2004. Keywords: flood control, river floods, rural and regional development, low-land storage, emergency storage.

Keywords

flood control, river floods, rural and regional development, low-land storage, emergency storage.