Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2016 (96. évfolyam)
2016 / 3. szám - HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT - Ligetvári Ferenc: The power of irrigation
Ferenc Ligetvári: The Power of Irrigation 37 Figure 5. A perspective view of the Kisköre barrage Decisions concerning the implementation Tisza-canalisation and in its framework the plan for the establishment of a second barrage near Tiszasüly had already been a part of the preceding water management development plans and there had also been examinations for the more precise determination of its location. The first comprehensive technical study related to the establishment of the major structures of the Kisköre (2nd Tisza) Barrage was carried out in 1960. The (§ 23 of the) Act II of 1961 on the 2nd five-year plan instructs to start the investment preparation work being necessary for the implementation of the Kisköre (2nd Tisza) Barrage and its irrigation systems in the period of the 2nd five-year plan (1961-1965). The Government Decision of 1961 arranged for the preparation of the investment program. The investment program proposal was finished in 1964 and the irrigable area through the barrage, the crop intensity, the irrigation water norms and the specific and total yield increase obtainable with irrigation on average were determined according to the position of the former Ministry of Agriculture. The National Committee for Technical Development also examined the draft program and it stated in the conceptual study published in August 1965 that the establishment Kisköre (2nd Tisza) Barrage and its irrigation systems was considered important and significant for the people’s economy and its implementation was timely. Considering agricultural, production, technical, economy aspects and bearing capacity of the economy of the country, the General Directorate of Water Management broke down the investment into constructions stages and prepared the detailed implementation plan of the first building schedule. The government approved it and the Act II of 1966 on the 3rd five-year plan did the same. So the decisions concerning the implementation were grounded by careful preparation, feasibility study, intermediate examinations and review consultations, economic studies, justification of the need for the investment and the position of the interested high authorities and councils. Accordingly the construction works of the first phase started. Solving water supplementation and water distribution After analysing more options the low summer discharges in Tisza Valley can be most economically increased with the canalization of River Tisza. The regulation of River Tisza was already proposed by Count István Széchenyi in the middle of the 19th century. In his opinion five barrages would have been established in the River Tisza: Near Vásárosnamény, Záhony, Tiszalök, Kisköre and Csongrád. The longitudinal section of River Tisza indicates also the barrages of the Tisza canalization. The studies showed that after the Tiszalök Barrage the implementation of the Kisköre Barrage and then the Csongrád Barrage should be foreseen. The Tisza canalization is the main artery and backbone of the water distribution and supply system of Tisza Valley. As the river bed is the main canal of the system considerable savings are achievable and the available natural and stored water resources can be fully utilized. The Tisza canalization offers other long-term benefits too such as making the River Tisza navigable in its full length (600 km), its linking to the international shipping route and power generation with low prime cost (approx. 370 million kWh/year). The Kisköre Barrage and Reservoir is a complex (multipurpose) water management establishment. Its primary purpose is to decrease the ever growing agricultural water scarcity and to ensure the water quantity being necessary for the development of agriculture. Its secondary purpose is to ensure the water quantity necessary for industrial development and for drinking water supply. The reservoir doubles the standard natural river discharge of August in the middle section of River Tisza and nearly triples the discharge being utilizable for water uses of Hungarian agriculture. The direct impact area of the barrage and the major structures that can be supplied with irrigation water is 300 000 ha. Apart from this it ensures irrigation development opportunity in the systems of Körös-valley and Tiszalök with a further impact area of 150 000 ha. In the direct impact area the irrigation plants supply three independent irrigation systems with irrigation water: The system along the backwater reach and the reservoir; and the systems of Nagykunság and Jászság (Fig. 6). The so-called secondary major structures connected to the major irrigation structures supply water to the irrigation schemes, irrigation equipments and fish ponds established in the plants. Such secondary major structures are the main canals of each irrigation system and the reservoir Tiszafüred - Kócs. The fulfilment of such requirements help people living in regions with adverse ecological conditions to survive. One example of this is Israel. The pressure of necessity caused to create successful agricultural businesses
