Habitat Reconstruction in the forests of the Körös Valley, Hungary

General

National Id:

Hungary_01

Site name:

River Fekete-Körös, Town Gyula,

Summary:

The fragments of floodplain forests (Fraxino - pannonicae -Ulmetum) along the River Körös were cut from the river by dykes during the river regulation works in the 19th century. The deteriorated groundwater conditions were worsened in a drought period during the 1980-1990’s that triggered action of the forestry service. Restoration of the river connection and the floodplain watercourse network provide surface water supply from the backwater of flood waves to the 2000 ha forest. The result of the habitat reconstruction work is a 38.8 km long water-flow and a water surface of 15.7 hectares, cc 400 hectares of the forest has a direct positive ecological impact. The water supply of the floodplain channel network has another source as well. A smaller volume comes from a fishery. In case of this second source the nutrient content of the fishery is assimilated in the forest as an additional service. Previously this load were let back into the river directly.

The in-depth description of the case study:

cs-hu-01-final_version.pdf

NUTS Code:

Dél-Alföld

RBD code:

HU1000

Transboundary:

Data provider:

Gábor Ungvári, REKK

Source(s):

A FEKETE-KÖRÖS ERDEINEK VíZPÓTLÁSA ÉS 15 ÉVES ÖKOLÓGIAI EREDMÉNYEI

NWRM(s) implemented in the case study:

Floodplain restoration and management

Land use conversion

Longitude:

21.389736

Latitude:

46.698664

Site information

Climate zone:

warm temperate dry

Mean rainfall:

550

Mean rainfall unit:

mm/year

Mean runoff:

34,5999984741211

Mean runoff unit:

600 - 750 mm

Type:

Actual Test Site

Light or indepth?:

In-depth

Average slope range:

0-1%

Vegetation class:

Broad-leaved forest

Monitoring maintenance

Monitoring impacts effects:

Monitoring location:

Unknown

Performance

Performance impact estimation method:

Unknown

Biophysical impacts

Retained water:

2000000

Retained water unit:

m3/year

Information on increased water storage:

Previously it was zero

Information on runoff reduction:

No outflow from the area

Water quality overall improvements:

Positive impact-WQ improvement

Information on Water quality overall improvements:

The forest assimilate the nutrient overloaded water from the near-by fishery

Soil quality overall soil improvements:

N/A info

Information on Soil quality overall soil improvements:

N/A info

Lessons, risks, implications...

Key lessons:

Surface water supply is an effective way of recharging groundwater storage capacity of forest soil in order to reduce droughts risk by enhancing the natural inter-seasonal allocation of water. The key difference of this application compared to an area with generally the same problems is the possibility to sort out the transaction costs that emerge from in an area with multi-party ownership. If the suitable complex knowledge happens to be at the right place, no further incentive is needed to take advantage of an upcoming possibility. †“ It highlights the fundamental need of education about the complex nature of the water-land use-ecosystem nexus.

Success factor(s):

Type	Role	Comments
Attitude of relevant stakeholders	main factor	The main success factor was the forestry management's unequivocal understanding of the structural problem what threatens the sustainable operation: the lack of inundations. They grasped the first occasion to finance and negotiate such a development. The financial consolidation/restructuring process of the state forestry organizations provided financial sources that were used to improve fundamental production conditions.

Financing:

Type	Comments
National funds	Reorganization subsidy from the owner the (the state owned) National Privatization and Asset Management Ltd. (Regional Forestry Organizations were formed into state owned joint stock companies. Transfer from the (that time existed) national Forest Regeneration Fund

Barrier:

Type	Role	Comments
Existing institutional framework	main barrier	Implementation required the reconciliation of forestry and water management interests. The main issues were: - Should the forestry pay for the water (resource)? It was resolved as ecological water supply - No water inlet at the front side of the flood waves because of flood safety reasons. - The forestry resign to demand compensation for damages what the water that remains out in its territory can cause.

Driver:

Type	Role	Comments
Organisation committed to it	main driver

Socio-economic

Direct benefits information:

Biomass production Wildlife management, the area provides higher animal carrying capacity Assimilation of nutrient load of incoming water

Ancillary benefits information:

Amenities: This area is the Forest School of the nearby Gyula town, education and recreation facilities for school programs with regional importance. Total education activity 3-4 thousand education day per year (counted like workload in the person month). 3-6 visitor nights.

Costs investment:

810000

Costs investment information:

Planner's estimation of the development cost in 2014 prices of the same work volume, 200-300 million HUF (650.000 - 970.000€)

Costs operation maintenance:

No significant operation or maintenance cost were identified

Costs total:

810000

Costs total information:

Planner's estimation of the development cost in 2014 prices of the same work volume, 200-300 million HUF (650.000 - 970.000€)

Ecosystem improved biodiversity:

Ecosystem provisioning services:

Ecosystem impact climate regulation:

No information available

Policy, general governance and design targets

Policy description:

River regulation works of the 19th and 20th century resulted in degraded living conditions for the river valley forests (declining groundwater levels, lack of inundations). A 12 year long dry period in the 1980-1990 pushed the remaining forests into critical status. The insufficient available water quantity had to increase.

Part of wider plan:

Policy pressure:

Policy requirement directive:

Policy impact:

Policy wider plan:

Policy area:

Policy target:

Target purpose
Groundwater Recharge
Increase Water Storage

Design & implementations

Application scale:

Field Scale

Installation date:

1999

Lifespan:

100

Age:

Performance timescale:

Immediate

Area (ha):

400

Area subject to Land use change or Management/Practice change (ha):

Size:

38,7999992370605

Size unit:

Design capacity description:

Maximum quantity of water derived from the river depends on the water level. During a year there is cc 180 days for water supply. During this period cc 2 million m3 water arrives into the area

Constraints:

The high cost of a previous attempt to pump water for the area proved prohibitively expensive and made it clear that only gravitational supply can provide sustainable solution.

Favourable preconditions:

This is a state owned forest, that consists of one forest body. Also it is inside a temporary flood storage reservoir in a band of the River Fekete-Körös. The isolation of the area and lack of the risk of flooding further areas made it an easy case from the water directorate's point of view The landscape relief that has the former river branches in the territory

Design contractual arrangement:

Arrangement type	Role	Responsibility	Name	Comments
Other			No specific contractual arrangement	The use of the funds were approved by the owner, but it was the element of the normal protocol.
Other			No detailed protocol about the operation of the water supply	During the first period of the operation there were several attempts to create a standalone water governance protocol for the regional water directorate to use, but an adaptive method that is based on the event by event communication between the forestry and the water authority became working the solution.

Design consultation activity:

Activity stage	Name	Key issues	Comments
Design phase	There were consultation with the private land owners of the area		There were no details provided

Design land use change:

Design authority:

Authority type	Role	Name	Comments
Forest owners	Initiation of the measure	DALERD Rt (South-Alfí¶ld Forestry Ltd.	The organisation has a key role in initiating, design and application as well
Regional / sub-national water authority	Determination of design details of the measure	Kí¶rí¶svidéki Vízí¼gy Igazgatí³ság	Details that belong to the design of the dyke crossing of the water supply channels. It also has role in the operation of the locks.
Other	Determination of design details of the measure	íllami Erdészeti Szolgálat Kecskeméti Igazgatí³ság	Regional Forestry Directorate, it approves the forestry management plans in its district
Other	Financing	íllami Privatizácií³s és Vagyonkezelési Ügyní¶kség - íPV Rt.	Formally owner of state forestries

Last updated: 18 Jun 2015 | Top

Miscellanous

Main menu

Habitat Reconstruction in the forests of the Körös Valley, Hungary

Partners