The water was only five centimeters higher than in 1965, when the lake reached its all-time low for the end of January at 115.19 meters above the Adriatic Sea. According to the office of State Councilor Heinrich Dorner (SPÖ), talks are underway for a supply line from Hungary. In addition, Seemanagement GmbH should deliver “complete and sustainable solutions”.
Lake Neusiedl is currently about half a meter away from the maximum value for the end of January in 2015, 29 centimeters are missing from the long-term average and 23 centimeters from the previous year. This was also made visible by the weekend’s storm, which blew away the water and revealed the muddy bottom in some places. FPÖ state party secretary Christian Riess, for example, was alarmed by the pictures from Rust: “It’s time to speed up the rescue of the lake,” he emphasized.
Mud is fetched from the lake
Talks are ongoing with Hungary about the planned water supply. Dorner emphasized on Monday that it was not about individual measures to combat existing problems, but about a new basic orientation. “In the future we want to think big and find complete and sustainable solutions,” he said. The new, state-owned Seemanagement GmbH is responsible for this, which is to deal with the management of the reed belt and the removal of the mud from the sea bays. Around one million cubic meters of wet sludge are to be removed from the lake over the next ten years.
It is also important to maintain and build reed canals to ensure water exchange between the open water surface and the reed belt, Dorner said. Initial talks were held with the lake communities and the Esterhazy companies last year. This year, the details are to be clarified.
Source: Nachrichten
