Approximately 99% of land in Hungary is currently experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the national meteorological service. The crisis has left major water bodies severely depleted, including Lake Velence, Hungary’s third-largest lake located southwest of Budapest. By August 1, the water level on the lake fell below previous historic minimums, and the Agárd gauge recorded values of around 20 centimeters (8 inches) by August 16, falling far short of the optimal 150 centimeters (5 feet) expected for August. Swimming beaches around the lake have been closed, and navigating small vessels has become exceptionally difficult.
Record-Low Water Levels and Widespread Drought Across Hungary
Árpád Selmeci, a 58-year-old resident who has lived by Lake Velence since childhood, noted that he had never witnessed water levels so low. It’s terrible. My heart aches every single moment,
Selmeci said, according to Apnews. The dramatic drop at Lake Velence is part of a wider national emergency driven by prolonged droughts and heat waves sweeping across Europe. The ongoing conditions have damaged agricultural crop yields, triggered drinking water shortages, and posed potential shutdown threats to the country’s sole nuclear power plant. The European Union’s Europa Sentinel-2 satellites have captured imagery revealing wide swathes of exposed lakebed along the shallow shorelines.
Historical Wetland Loss and Canal Networks
While human-driven climate change and a lack of rainfall have accelerated the crisis, experts point out that centuries of altered water management have left the country unusually vulnerable. More than a quarter of Hungary’s territory comprises low-lying land designed by nature to retain precipitation, and past centuries left the region rich in freshwater resources via numerous rivers and streams. However, a study published in 2023 in the scientific journal AOL estimated that Hungary has lost more than 80% of its historical wetlands.
Zsuzsanna Ujj, a biodiversity policy specialist and project coordinator with the environmental organization Friends of the Earth Hungary, stated that the nation has not been a good steward of its waters in the last 200 years.
A primary driver of this vulnerability is a vast infrastructure network consisting of more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) of drainage canals—surpassing the circumference of the Earth—which systematically remove accumulated precipitation from soils, fields, and wetlands to accommodate agriculture and industrial enterprises. This prioritization of land draining over natural flooding cycles has consistently lowered the water table, dried out topsoil, and diminished localized evaporation and subsequent precipitation.
Government Response and International Risk Rankings
According to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Hungary is categorized among the most drought-exposed nations in Europe, ranking 16th globally. Zsuzsanna Ujj emphasized that the country needs to realign its water management practices, shifting from a drainage-based approach to one focused on water retention.
Desertification, marked by receding vegetation driven by high temperatures and minimal rainfall, increasingly threatens much of the Great Hungarian Plain.
In response to mounting pressures, Prime Minister Péter Magyar addressed lawmakers in late June on a day when the country recorded a high temperature of 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit). Magyar announced that his administration would place water management policies on new footing
and initiate a comprehensive water conservation strategy to combat the impacts of the drought, as reported by ClickOnDetroit. Many have said year after year that water shortage will be one of Hungary’s problems and one of the most important strategic issues to be solved. They were right,
Magyar noted.
