A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 26. 1999 (Debrecen, 1999)

Tanulmányok - Simonyi Alfonz: A Tiszántúl vízrendezése

river Berettyó. The Berettyó corning out from among the Bihar hills lost its bed at Bakonszeg and brought into existence the wetlands of Sárrét. After the first waterway regulation attempts in the 18th century, which meant no more than digging out some “canals”, the regulation of the Hortobágy valley started in the years of the 19th century reform era, then continued with the drainage of the Sárrét swamps.

All these activities were preceded by the regulation of the Tisza, which project was initiated by Count István Széchenyi. The work of regulation involved cutting across the frequent meanders, ensuring by this a greater gradient, then building a protecting system of dykes. Starting from Bakonszeg a nearly 20 km long new riverbed was dug for the Berettyó, which meant the termination of the Sárrét wetland area. The same procedure was carried out for the Körös rivers, where it was first the Sebes Körös that was led into a new reach of riverbed and confined within dykes.

The last phase of Transtibiscian waterway regulation was the work of eliminating inland waters by the transformation of the beds of smaller meandering watercourses (Kösely, Tóczó, Kálló) into straight canals.

The work of waterway regulation reclaimed large areas of land for tillage and, with the transformation of the landscape, triggered radical changes in the life of the Transtibiscian population.

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