With recent weather forecasts predicting droughts and risk of fires, it can be easy to forget that this month five years ago Prague was hit by one of the most disastrous floods in its history.
Experts warn that Czechs should brace themselves for more weather extremes in the future - claiming that floods and droughts are actually two sides of the same coin. They have been discussing for some time now how to protect the Czech centre-right govt not to improve country's economy -- poll ...
Sarkozy to unveil French cabinet ... landscape against flood waves and keep enough water-supply at the same time.
"Scenarios of the climate change indicate that after thirty to fifty years there might be a situation when hydrological cycles will change substantially. The amount of precipitation might be the same but the time distribution will differ substantially: during the winter and early spring high amount of water out-flowing very quickly and during winter and summer deeper and longer drought period."
Pavel Puncochar, head of the Water Management Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, is well aware of the consequences that global climate change may bring to the Czech Republic: that is sudden heavy rains as well as longer periods without a single raindrop. That's why he has been outlining a plan reserving territories for future construction of dams, which could hold up enough water for emergencies.
"At the moment, this plan, prepared according to the Water Framework Directive of the EU, is not in fact planning the building of new dams but the protection of areas where such dams and reservoirs might be established. These areas are very specific and rare due to geology, the shape of the valley or hydrological regime. We have to recalculate and resolve the proposal but I would still stay on the amount of 140 or something like that to keep these areas for possible accumulation and increasing the water resources for the future generations of this country."
(radio-Prague)
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