Some selected analysis are performed at the Felső-Válicka catchment, too. The Felső-Válicka study site is located in Zala County, flows in south-north direction into the River Zala. The size of the catchment is 131 km2. 27% of the total catchment area is forest, 35% is cropland, 11% is grassland, 3% is wetland and 11% is urban.
Both study sites are located in the catchment of Lake Balaton, therefore state of the environment and nature in these small catchments influences the touristic and economic potential of the Balaton region. Their water and nutrient management affects water quantity and quality of the lake. Extreme weather events will increase the environmental and social conflicts in the region.
Main challenges identified in both sites are decreasing soil erosion and nutrient load, preventing flash floods, and implementing integrated water resources conservation.
OPTAIN project aims to identify effective combination of the NSWRMs and optimize their allocation, in order to improve water and nutrient retention in the soil and the catchments. Emphasis will be put on suitable options to foster the resilience of agricultural production to climate change.
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Water quality
Felső-Válicka: The case study belongs to the catchment of Lake Balaton. Its climate is moderately cool and moderately humid. During the study period, the average annual temperature was 11 °C, and the average annual precipitation was 720 mm. The catchment is an erosional hilly area with an average elevation of 186 m, and its highest point reaches 328 m. The study area consists of 30% forest, 24% arable land, 6% other agricultural areas, 15% semi-natural shrub and grass vegetation, 6% meadow, 4% wetland, and 12% urban areas.
Csorza: The case study belongs to the catchment of Lake Balaton. Its climate is moderately warm and moderately humid. For the study period, the average annual temperature is 15.5 °C, and the average annual precipitation around 600 mm. Elevation ranges from 113 m to 385 m. Its dominant soil types are Cambisols, Calcisols, and Regosols. The study area consists of 29 % forest, 13 % arable land, 29 % orchard and vineyard, 17 % shrub, 6 % grassland and 5 % urban areas.
Scale of the project
Micro-scale: soil profile-based modeling of different land use types (forest, vineyards) of the catchment of Csorsza Stream, which belong to the catchment of Lake Balaton.
Size of the project
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Erosion Control
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Improved Biodiversity
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Increase Water Storage
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| Wider plan type | Wider plan focus | Name | Comments | |
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| Requirement directive | Specification | |
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Hungary's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan for 2023-2027 emphasizes sustainable water management through various water retention measures aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability and climate resilience. Key initiatives include financial support for non-productive water protection investments and implementation of NSWRMs. For the 2025–2029 period, the payment system supports soil-improving managements on arable land.
Monitoring system
The maintenance cost for forested riparian buffers is 335 €/ha, while shrub-grass riparian buffers cost 248 €/ha and grassed riparian buffers 196 €/ha. Forested erosion control strips also require 335 €/ha for maintenance, with shrub-grass erosion control strips at 248 €/ha and grassed erosion control strips at 196 €/ha. No-till with cover crops leads to a maintenance cost reduction of 55 €/ha, thanks to fewer field operations, less machinery use, and lower fuel and labor costs. The practice of no-till with cover crops results in a reduction in maintenance costs of 2 Euro/ha compared to conventional tillage, due to lower fuel consumption. Finally, the conversion of arable land to grassland has the highest maintenance cost, amounting to 787 €/ha.
| Success factor type | Success factor role | Comments | Order |
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| Driver type | Driver role | Comments | Order |
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No-till with cover crops management is projected to be the most efficient in reducing sediment loss and increasing soil moisture – its efficiency is related to the area covered as well, which was 100% of the cropland in our study.
Conversion to grassland uses more water, but it is expected to significantly decrease sediment loss and it is effective in ecosystem restoration, improved soil health, or flood mitigation.
Riparian buffers are projected to be effective in improving water quality, but have low influence on water retention. Erosion control strips are expected to reduce sediment loss. These linear landscape elements cover small areas, however, they are converted into non-productive land.
In Csorza we investigated drought tolerant plants and reduced tillage as NSWRM management methods. Among them we found that the drought tolerant plants had the lowest amount of water stored, next to the reduced tillage, and the highest was observed for the baseline, with no NSWRM implemented based on the profile scale simulations.