Czech water experts call for new reservoirs and better landscape retention

Experts are emphasizing the need for a dual approach to combat increasing water scarcity and hydrological drought in the Czech Republic. Miroslav Trnka, director of CzechGlobe at the Institute of the Global Change, states that maintaining current water consumption and quality levels will require the construction of new valley reservoirs on upper watercourses.

Trnka notes that while existing infrastructure like the Vltava cascade was robustly designed, current climate change is testing these systems beyond their original parameters. Major reservoirs, including Orlík and Slapy, have faced historic lows, necessitating supplemental flow management.

However, large-scale infrastructure must be paired with landscape-level water retention. Current methods often focus on short-term retention, but long-term water storage within the soil is critical. Experts argue that relying solely on reservoirs is insufficient if the surrounding watersheds cannot effectively capture and infiltrate rainfall, as high surface runoff during heavy precipitation often prevents water from replenishing the groundwater and river systems.