Vízügyi Közlemények, 1989 (71. évfolyam)

1. füzet - Dunka Sándor:Az Ér- és Berettyószabályozó társaságok története

Az Ér- és Berettyószabályozó társaságok története 125 The history of the river training associations of rivers Ér and Berettyó by Dr. S. DUNK A A very important part of the regulation of the Tisza-valley was the training of rivers Ér and Berettyó (Fig. 2). Some 10-15 thousand years ago the valley of Ér and Berettyó constituted a part of the ancient Tisza river (Fig. 1). Due to some crust movements at the end of the pleistocene, a subsidence of 20 m has come into being over the Plain of Bereg-Szatmár forcing the Tisza to flow to West from its - one time - south-western direction of flow. During the next few thousand years the old river-bed had been filled up by the sediment of floods, and by the wind blowing the sand from the hills of Nyírség (Fig. 3). This process, however, could not be completed perfectly. Traces of the once existing river-bed interconnecting rivers Szamos, Kraszna, Ér, and Berettyó, moreover the Körös system, could be detected even during the past century. Characteristic bifurcation patterns at the beginning of the 19th century on river Ér are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. River Berettyó has inundated the area listed in Table I during floods. It could be figured out by the author that the ancient floodplain of the Tisza-valley extended to 19 637 km

2, the equivalent of 21 percent of the total area of today's Hungary. 4770 km

2 was permanently under water from this. A road-map from 1832 (Fig. 7) and a map prepared in the 14th century (Fig. 2) would make us competent to compare the two situations and to register the largescale increase of swamps. The River Training Association of River Ér was founded on the 14th May, 1842 in Diószeg (Fig. 8). One of its first tasks was the digging of a 31 547 Viennese-fathom-long bed for river Ér between the settlements of Pócsaj and Szalaér (Fig. 6). The volume of earth excavated and the costs were modified several times. Estimated costs were divided among settlements interested according to the area of their flooded plains (Fig. 9). The first session of the Association of Berettyó-Sárrét was held on the 4th September in 1852. Real work, however, has been begun only on the 30th November, 1853 in the city of Debrecen (Fig. 10). As a result of drainage in the Sárrét region, about 87 500 acres were handed over for cultivation according to Table II. A "Program" had been set up immediately for execution. The river training map for the Körös system is seen in Fig. 11. Also, an "Association Contract" was approved at the session of initiation (Fig. 12). The two associations - Ér and Berettyó-Sárrét - were united on the 12th of September, 1859. This new organization had continued its work till 1881 under the title of "The Association" of Debrecen for river-training of the rivers Berettyó and Ér". At that time it was enlarged by the Association of Ivánfenék and by a number of interested people from Mezőtúr and Mederszállás. Its name has been changed to "Land reclamation and flood protecting association of Berettyó-Ivánfenék-Mezőtúr-Mesterszállás (Fig. 14). Dimensions over some selected time periods, and the phases of development up to 1976 of the levees along rivers Berettyó and Ér are shown in Fig. 15. In Table III, the subdivision of the flood-touched areas according to land use categories in 1860-70 and after the termination of river training and development in 1930 are presented. Finally, it has been stated that in the valley of Ér and Berettyó about 1000 km

2 land has been saved for agriculture during the past hundred years and the same amount has been made safe for agricultural production by the levees. Transportation, safety of life and property, healthy environment, malaria-free regions are the benefit of the activities pursued by the above appreciated associations. * * *