Vízügyi Közlemények, 2003 (85. évfolyam)

1. füzet - Orlóci I.-Szesztay K.: A vízgazdálkodás anatómiájának vázlata

A vízgazdálkodás anatómiájának vázlata 37 Water is suitable for meeting several demands and is a source of multiple dangers (Table ///). The system of socially significant properties ( Table IV) is formed by the value of water in various water uses, the related risks and its ecological value. The concrete values of these elements are defined by the given demands of the water management, which arc related to the interests of individuals and groups, and are functions of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the water. The satisfying of any of the demands will alter not only the property in concern but will rearrange the complete system of the feature of water, thus modifying it social value (Tables Vand VI). The properties of water (and the related services of water management) fall mostly out of the system of values of the economy and the market. In addition to the differences of the systems of values and measures the essential source of the conflicts of the water management is the contradiction between the naturally unified character of water and the split character of the water demands of the socicty. The only way of the management of a common resource is the common (public) agreement of all parties interested in water. The oldest and most complex tasks of water management are related to the rivers ( Table VII). In terms of the geography of the economy rivers form the backbone of the development of settlements and production. The utilisation of the properties of water (source of water, food and energy, route of transportation and traffic, recipient of wastes, lines of defence) and the prevention and elimination of the dangers of water were the significant forces of technical development, since the prehistoric times, and provided the socially recognized task of engineering work. Nevertheless, the system of waters is a special artery of the catchment basin from the point of view of natural geography. Rivers are the natural habitats of plants and animals, while they also form with their valleys and catchments the connection of the terrestrial ecological system and also the landscape. The large rivers have an important place in the consciousness of the society. They cany national and political notions and are symbols of the culture. It stems form the economic role of rivers that their channels and floodplains are ecological systems affected by human activities. In places where the interactions of the processes of the economy and the nature arc rational (proportional), the landscape preserves its development tendencies and its biota adapts to the changing conditions. When the meeting of the demands of the economy start to dominate this proportionality ceases to exist and the rivers of the developed countries started to degrade abruptly in the middle of the past century. The rehabilitation of the ecological balance and "household" of the nature became an important requirement. Nevertheless, the demands of the society do occur in a continuous manner and for their satisfaction one must continue the regulation of the rivers. The safety of the life of the population living in the river valleys, the protection of the man-made establishments, roads and railroads can only be secured with the safe passage of ice and floods. The extent of engineering measures to be made for protection of the accumulated national wealth depends on the "acceptable risk" the society is willing to face. The precondition of the safety and economic operation of water intakes for industries and water supply systems to drought land and of the appropriate supply of water to the increasingly protected wetland habitats is the regulation of the capricious changes of water levels and the channel. The development of inland navigation is not only an economic interest but it also serves a public health interest, that of the reduction of air pollution. Abruptly collapsing riverbanks and turbulent currents exclude water-contact recreation and water sports. Although river training measures and damming are the preconditions of stabilising the river channel, confining water level fluctuation, eliminating flood and drought dangers and of the meeting of water uses they are also the subject of fierce social conflicts in Hungary and also in the global scale. Counter interests and conflicts arc complex and multiple ones. Their elimination is hindered by lack of scientific knowledge, economic constrains and political