Researchers from the University of Szeged (SZTE) are supporting water replenishment efforts through complex geospatial analysis, the institution’s communications directorate has announced.
The effects of climate change are no longer a future threat but a present danger: In the Southern Great Plain region, the frequency of drought periods and the extent of water scarcity have reached critical levels, the researchers write. This is especially true in southern Békés County, where some of the country’s most valuable agricultural lands are located, yet falling groundwater levels and increased evaporation are already threatening local ecosystems and agriculture.
To address the problem, the Department of Physical and Environmental Geography at SZTE carried out a unique series of studies.
The university’s geographers identified thousands of local depressions and former riverbeds,
then used complex geospatial analysis to determine the areas where retaining water locally or replenishing underground water resources is technically feasible.
György Sipos, head of the department and leader of the research project, emphasized: “Improving the region’s resilience to climate change cannot be based on subjective decisions. We have created a scientifically grounded decision-support system that is based on a combination of topographic, soil science, land use, and infrastructure data.”
The significance of the project extends far beyond the region.
The methodology developed by SZTE could serve as a national model for water management efforts aimed at rehabilitating water-scarce lowland areas.
Its international excellence is indicated by the fact that a study presenting an earlier version of the methodology has already been submitted to one of the world’s most prestigious water science journals.
József Gacsályi, Deputy Technical Director General of the General Directorate of Water Management (OVF) and commissioner of the studies, stated that the results are not merely theoretical but provide direct support for planning technical water management interventions. The goal is to create a complex, climate-adaptive water management system that halts landscape desiccation and, in the long term, contributes to improving water security in southern Békés and later in as many lowland regions as possible.
Via szte.hu, Featured image: MTI/Mészáros János
