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Szanazug, Gyula
Water Authority of Körös Valley
Dr. János Józsa introduces the participants of the course to the Körös Water Authority personnel.
The presentation from the Water Authority was directed by Mr. Zoltán Galbáts, vice-director. |
The Körös catchment covers and area of
27537 km2. Approximately 50% is in the high
lands of Romania, the rest is mainly low lands in the
Hungarian side. The water authority work is focused in 4 basic areas:
69% of all the authority area is flood plains; for this reason "Flood Protection" is the main concern for the authority. In Hungary there are 12 water authorities organized in a catchment basis. Each authority operates independently unless an emergency condition occurs. Since Water policy is part of general "Defense Policy", when an emergency occurs the coordination passes from the local authority to an emergency committee that concentrates efforts in the emergency point. |
Flood damage in the Fekete-Körös
"The history of the Körös Valley is at the same time the history of floods" (Kövizig, Gyula, 1999).
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A technical visit to the field was organized to observe the state and function of these elements.
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Szanazug, Gyula
Technical excursion Flood Protection basin of Kis Delta
| In some cases, during flood events of
high magnitude and low frequency, the water level in the
river rises rapidly and it endangers important
agricultural areas and populations. One method used by the water authority to control the water level is to open the dikes by explosion in given areas and allow part of the flood to be stored in retention basins. |
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| The white pipes are the points where the explosives are placed to breach the dike. |
The inlet to the retention basin is protected from erosion, with some sort of concrete stilling basin. |
Once the water level in the system decreases, the stored waters need to be rapidly drained by the pumping stations and the dike has to be rebuilt before the next flood event occurs. Usually, material for the reconstruction of the dike is stored near the dike-breaching section.
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Technical excursion Hose dam of Gyula
Another important activity of the authority is Water Supply for agriculture, drinking water and other uses. Hose dams are used to control the water depth in the area near to the Water supply intake.
During high flows, the normal water depth in the channel is enough to keep the required water level at the intake; as the flow decreases and the normal depth decreases, the hose is filled with water so that the crest of the dam is higher and there is a backwater effect (2). |
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| Diagram of the intake:
Water is taken from the River Fehér-Körös and is released into the Canal Élovíz. It is used for environmental and landscape purposes; the town wants the old channel of the river to remain active(2). |
 Intake for Water Supply |
 Water distribution through the town |
Short stop at the town of Gyula
Here we present a paper published by the Water Authority in Gyula regarding the visit of our group.
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Gyula, 05/23/2001 University
of Iowa student visit at the Körös Water Directorate A group of eight students from North American universities and two accompanying professors was hosted at our Directorate for a short visit on May 22 evening to late morning of the next day. The visit was part of a documentation trip to Eastern Central Europe organized by the Hydraulic Institute of the University of Iowa. The group, comprising |
students from two universities besides that of Iowa is investigating the aquatic environment and hydraulic structures of Romania, Hungary and Poland. In our country, the group was guided by Dr. János Józsa, associate professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics along with PhD student Gábor Keve and civil engineer student Réka Palásty. After
arrival at the Szanazug Directorate guest house, the visitors learned about our Directorate's
flood defense activities and facilities from lectures presented by
vice-director, Zoltán Galbáts, and chief engineer, László
Réti. The lectures were
presented in English and were illustrated by slides and video recordings. During the presentations,
students and professors showed active interest in the technical,
organizational, and financial aspects of flood damage mitigation
projects. The answers to the numerous questions will be used by
students in their course report, the final product of this travel. The
course is part of their academic curriculum and it is ascribed with credit hours.
After a traditional dinner, the guests returned to the rooms to
recover from their weariness caused by the long day of travel.
The course started a week before in the Romanian Danube River
delta. Next
day, the short but intensive program continued with a site visit. The
guests were shown the opening of the "Small delta" flood
retention basin and the modern facilities of the Gyula dam. After a
brief historical retrospect from the tower of the Gyula Castle the
group continued its trip to the Ópusztaszer memorial. Vice chief Engineer Translation by Tamas Kramer
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Visit middle Tisza River
| The Tisza River is, after the Danube, the
second most important river in Hungary. Lately it has been in the news because of the high water levels and flooding in different villages. Another important issue has been the water quality problems due to a cyanide spill in the river (3). (Go to news)
We visited the river in the locality of Szolnok and took the ferry to the other side. |
The ferry is attached to a guide cable along the river and it is positioned at an angle to the current; the component of the force parallel to the cable pushes the ferry from one bank of the river to the other; the component of the force in the direction of the flow is in balance with the tension of the cable. |
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May, 23
In our way to Budapest we visited the Ópusztaszer National Memorial Park
 Garden with Ancient Ruins |
 The Millennial Memorial |
 Fisherman's Hut |
| One of the main attractions in the park
is "The Feszty Panorama". This painting depicts the historical legend about how the Hungarian tribes arriving from the east entered the Carpathian Basin. The painting is 15 m high and 120 m long. The diameter of the circle it creates is 38 m. (photo by Domotor Mihaly) |
Chief Árpád and his chieftains |
The wife of the chief and her escort |
May, 23
| Do you wish to continue the trip to Budapest? |
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Page prepared by Yenory Morales under the supervision of
Tamas Kramer, Marian Muste and Witold Krajewski. Please send
comments to: webmaster@iihr.uiowa.edu
Copyright © 2001 IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering. All rights
reserved.
