A szegedi nagyárvíz és újjáépítés. Európa Szegedért (Budapest- SZeged, 2004)
Előszó
FOREWORD Although we owe modem Szeged and the River Tisza’s flowing in a more secure bed to the flood that took place on the Tisza 125 years ago, we have not forgotten up to this day the damage, out of which only national and international solidarity could save the city. This flood had accelerated the completion of the regulation of the riverways that was started in 1846 with the intellectual leadership of István Széchenyi, on the basis of Pál Vásárhelyi’s plans. The recent destructing floods have turned public attention to the necessity of the improvement of flood security. The situation is not different from that of the 19th century when Pál Vásárhelyi and Széchenyi realised that there is an inevitable connection between river regulations and the development of the country. At that time they tried to tame natural forces and to make them more predictable. Today we already know that we need more developed and complex measures that also utilise the possibilities that accompany these unpredictable forces. By today the demand for protecting the environment has strengthened and besides the establishment of flood security we take care of the protection of the floodplains’ flora and fauna. Considering all the above-mentioned factors, the government last year accepted the further development of the Vásárhelyi-plan that provides security for the almost one- and-a-half million people who live beside the Tisza. We will improve the runoff rate of the bed and we will establish spillway storage lakes. But the Vásárhelyi-plan is more than a simple flood protection programme: its realisation will influence the economy of the region, will improve the living standards of those who live here, will increase the touristic potential and population preserving capacity of the region. It establishes a basis for the eco- agriculture that is also supported by the European Union and last, but not least it also secures the protection of our natural values. This investment is the biggest infrastructural development of the previous decades in the eastern part of the country. Besides the realisation of the Vásárhelyi-plan we, of course, continue the modernisation of flood levees, as well. In 2004 altogether almost 3 billion HUF will be spent on this subject. Out of this a more than 2 billion HUF development will serve the protection of the Tisza, while the remaining amount will be spent on the investments of the Danube and the Bodrogköz. We hope that by these projects that secure the protection of the region we will be worthy of our ancestors who were working on the re-building of Szeged and with our efforts we can contribute to the development of the whole Tisza-valley. Miklós Persányi Minister of Environmental Protection and Water Management 6
