Hidrológiai Közlöny 1974 (54. évfolyam)

3-4. szám - Könyvismertetés

Hidrológiai Közlöny 1974. 3—4. sz. 133 evolution, the scarcity, or undesirable abundance, or poor quality of water presenting potential limits to such evolution. Owing to the particular geographic, natural condition of Hungary, water management has assumed an especially important position within the overall national economy. The water resources are limited and their distribution in both space and time in non uniform. Considerable social expenditures, which are likely to increase in the future, are necessary for exploiting this resource of limited availability in the interest of the national economy. Water management in Hungary took its start with large-scale damage control projects. Flood control, river regulation and drainage works in the past century have reclaimed several millions of hectares for agricultural production and have thus laid the foundations for the economic development of large regions of the country. Although these projects created the foundations of present water management, the rapid evolution in the past century was not followed, at a rate that would have been justified by the onset of industrialization and urbanization processes, by a similar development in industrial and domestic water supply. The utilization of water in agriculture has started between the two World Wars only. In the first post-war years the primary task was the repair and restoration of war damages. Consequently, deliberate water management development at a stepped-up rate and aiming at the correct proportions between the individual branches therein could be practiced and coordinated with soco-economic evolution during the last one-and-a-half decade only. New, advanced water management, which is still in the process of unfolding, will become general in the next decades and will be reflected by results, such as the solution of water management problems by international cooperation in river valleys extending to the territory of several countries. The general feature of development will be complexity, in that each projects will have to serve several economic purposes simultaneously in establishing the balance between supplies and demands in entire catchments. At present Hungary is classified among the countries with a medium standard of economic development, but as a result of the high-rate, intensive advancement envisaged, the level of socio-economic evolution will by 1985 approximate that of the advanced European countries. The annual average development rate of industrial production is contemplated to reach 5 to 6%, but some industries with great water demand are likely to develop at even higher rates. The area under agricultural cultivation will decrease, nevertheless the volume of products will increase, production will be industrialized and livestock breeding will be concentrated. In the wake of accelerating urbanization, about 60% of the total population is estimated to become town-dweller by 1985. These socio-economic processes will naturally affect water management in Hungary: The water demand will increase. This however, will inevitably entail the growing pollution of the recipient water courses, reducing thereby the available supplies. Water damages will present increasing hazards to the growing national property, while growing economic losses are expected to occur as a consequence of occasional unsatisfied water demands. At the same time advances in technology accompanying economic development may contribute to the evolution of water management and contribute to the solution of the problems encountered therein. For this very reason, in setting out the development objectives of water management, natural conditions, socio-economic demands and the technological conditions of development were adopted as a starting basis. Subsequently, the fundamental activities in water management will be reviewed in outlining the objectives of the development policy, in which the aforementioned starting bases are taken into consideration along with the trends indicating changes in these conditions. In the pre-war years domestic water supply in Hungary was below the European standard and up to 1945 no more than 22% of the population was served by communal supply. Development accelerated after the restoration of war damages and by the present communal supply has been extended to round 60% of the total population. The basic objective of development is to offer a healthy water supply to all inhabitants of the country. Communal supply to 85% of the population by 1985 is warranted. This implies that the capacity of public water works will be increased from the present 2.2 million cu.m/day to 5.0 million cu.m/day. It is expected that round 15% of the total supply must be diverted from surface water resources. Large regional water supply systems capable of absorbing variations in production and demand will assume increasing significance and interregional systems linking adjacent regions are also expected to develop. The freshwater demand of industry in 1970 was on the daily average 7.6 million cu.m. but by 1985 this will increase to 21 million cu.m. Efforts should be made in industrial water management to increase the ratio of multiple water recycling and to meet the freshwater demand first of all from surface supplies. In contrast to the isolated water works common thus far, growing use should be made of the advantages offered by regional industrial supply systems receiving their water over long-distance pipelines. The water demand of agricultural operations is anticipated to increase at a high rate. By 1985 the demand for drinking water in the agriculture is likely to attain 300 million cu.m/year, in contrast to the present 210 million cu.m. The development rate of communal sewerage and wastewater treatment lagged considerably behing that of water supply. In 1970 only 28% of the total population of the country lived in areas served by a communal sewer system. The objective to be attained by 1985 is to construct sewers on 60% of the area inhabited. For environmental considerations complete treatment, i.e., renovation of the wastewater collected by the communal sewer system may also become necessary in some instances. Neither the sewerage and treatment of industrial effluents attains the desired level. In 1970 as much as 0.4 million cu.m of harmful industrial wastewaters were discharged daily without treatment into the recipients. It is envisaged that by 1985 all harmful trade effluents should be returned in a treated condition to the recipients. A prerequisite for this is the development of research work on the treatment of industrial wastes. The volume of trade effluents will attain by 1985 as much as 4.0 million cu.m/day. The utilization, disposal and treatment of wastewaters originating from the agriculture is largely unsolved thus far. By 1985 all state farms should be provided with small sewer and treatment facilities. An additional problem awaiting solution is the utilization of wastewaters from large livestock breeding farms. After the war irrigation underwent relatively rapid development. At present round 430 thousand hectares are equipped for irrigation, but extension thereof to 750 to 800 thousand hectares is envisaged. The supplies available at present in the irrigation season are inadequate to meet the demands resulting from development. For this reason efforts are necessary to increase the capacity of main diversion structures and projects to supply the deficiency. For meeting the demands, the construction of further reservoirs and barrages is envisaged in the Tisza Valley, while in the Danube Valley small reservoirs will be constructed in the mountain and hilly regions with a total live storage volume of round 60 million cu.m. Water to Lake Balaton can be supplied by completing the canalization of the Sió Canal. Round 44% of the territory of Hungary is occupied by plains and under extreme conditions undrained runoff may inundate 20 to 25% of this area. Such in-