Cooperation Evaporates Over Hungary’s Dying Lake Velence

"There is no money to protect Lake Velence, but there is 70 billion forints for the megalomaniacal desires of a Christian-Democrat politician," Karacsony wrote on Facebook.

But even had the government agreed the plan, environmentalists argue a one-off investment won't be enough to save the lake. Rather, it will require a conscious and complex effort to tackle the root causes of the drying up of Lake Velence and indeed others in the country. But the chances of the nationalist-populist prime minister turning green any time soon are slim, while the Hungarian public displays an alarming complacency over the growing problem.

A Greenpeace protestor holds up a sign that says, 'When the water rules!', on the shores of Lake Velence, May 21, 2021. Photo: Járdány Bence / Greenpeace Time running out 

Like lakes around the world, Lake Velence - a popular tourist destination for Budapest inhabitants - is on the verge of extinction. By mid-summer, the 28-square-kilometre lake had lost 46 per cent of its water and is now so shallow, at an average of under 90 cm, that a growing number of its beaches are being closed to the public.

Many fear time is running out for the endangered lake. Miklos, who has lived for two decades in the vicinity of the lake, says his beloved beach creates a sad impression. "You go to the lakeshore, but instead of water you see the bare lakebed for several metres - it is all dry," he tells BIRN. "Even if you decide to take a bath, you need to walk out hundreds of metres, but the water is only up to your knees. No chance of a good swim."

At the end of July, environmentalists and locals organised a protest to raise awareness about the lake's falling water levels, pouring 100 litres of...