Slovakia aims to prevent drought
A landmark program to combat drought set to be implemented in the small Central European country of Slovakia could be an inspiration for other states as extreme weather events become more frequent, the environmental action group behind the plan has said.
The H2odnota v krajine (Value of H2O in the country) plan, which is expected to be approved by the Slovak government this Spring, includes a range of measures which, unlike many plans for drought, is proactive and focuses on prevention and mitigation instead of reacting to drought once it has occurred, Ipsnews reported.
Richard Muller, regional director for Central and Eastern Europe at the Global Water Partnership, an international network of organizations working to promote sustainable management and development of water resources, helped draft the plan.
He told IPS: “A few of the measures in this plan have been adopted in other countries as part of climate change adaptation, but Slovakia is the first country in the region to have this kind of action plan to combat drought.
“It is a landmark plan…other countries could look at this and be inspired and say, yes, this is something we should copy.”
The focus of the plan is on preventive measures in a number of areas, specifically agriculture and forestry, urban landscape, water management, research and environmental education.
The measures involve projects to modernize irrigation systems and change forest structure towards better climate change resilience as well as rainwater harvesting, tree planting, development of green spaces, green and vertical roofs and rainwater infiltration in urban landscapes.
It also covers water management, dealing with preparatory work for reconstruction of smaller reservoirs of water and green infrastructure, including wetlands restoration.
There is also a crisis plan to supply water to different sectors of national economy during prolonged drought while it also involves programs for public education and raising awareness of drought and water scarcity.
Together, these measures should, Muller explained, mean that even if and when there are long, dry spells, there will be some mitigation of the effects.
“Other countries have plans for drought, but in some, such as the US, measures are related to dealing with drought after the event. But the Slovak plan is focused on prevention and action beforehand,” he said.
Slovakia, like many other countries around the world, has seen an increased frequency of extreme weather events in recent years, including record heat and drought.
Last year, some parts of the country saw the driest first half of the year in over six decades while there was a very severe drought during 2015 when there were 23 days classified as super-tropical, i.e. with maximum temperatures of over 35° Celsius. This was compared to a maximum of five such days per year in years prior to 1990.
Similar droughts have been experienced across the wider central European region — in the Czech Republic conditions in last year’s drought were particularly severe with serious water shortages reported — and intergovernmental talks on drought, other extreme weather events and the environment have taken place over the last year.