Water of our life
Water of our life
“Water Guardians” of the wasteland fight against the climate catastrophe on the Sand Ridge
2025
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The Danube-Tisza Sand Ridge is the region most exposed to climate change. In absence of water, ecological collapse of the region is currently taking place. The lands almost completely dried up due to the decline in groundwater levels.
More than 623,000 people who live here are edging ever closer to complete desiccation. Their lives are becoming impossible. For them, water replenishment is a matter of life and death.
Desperate and determined local farmers banded together in December 2024 to use water from a nearby canal in a parched area. The reused water comes from the nearby thermal beach and green house.
Water has brought together and forged a community of locals, who celebrated on 23 March of the intermittently collected water in 2 hectares, which is less than 1% of the water that has been present in the region 60 years ago. It is a small chance to survive.
But what happens if the drought becomes more severe and more settlements demand this water from the sewers? Who owns the water?
Oszkar, and Uncle Jani checking the water level in the well
Uncle Jani is a native prairie farmer who grew up on this farm. He grows cereals, which he stores in a disused railway wagon, and keeps livestock. He joined the local "Water Guardians", because his well and watering hole have run out of water in recent years and he hopes that if they keep the water in the landscape, he will be positively affected and his crops will be better. "The world has gone mad. Some of it burns up in fires, some drowns in water, and some dries up completely. That would be us," he says.
Szilárd, with his horse "Hawk", checks his drying out fish pond
He bought his farm in 2010, when there was still water on the farm and the water level in the pond was 1.5 metres higher. He is optimistic that if the activities of the local “Water Guardians” are successful, something might be done near his farm for water.
“We must act, because animal husbandry and farming are almost impossible,” says Szilárd, who works as a horse trainer and horse rider.
Szilárd, in the boat what is his family heritage
His father regularly used it to paddle across the Danube, so Szilárd's attachment to water was formed from an early age, as was his appreciation of a close-to-nature lifestyle. When he moved here, he brought the boat with him, so that he could use it with his daughters in the then water-rich landscape and pass on what was important to him as a child.
“For the lack of water, we are now bathing in dust.” - says Szilárd
Painted horses on a disused agricultural building
Oszkar, a leader of the local “Water Guardians” and volunteer ranger in the seven-metre-deep, dried-up wildlife pond
He has been a wild ranger since 2022, and since then he has witnessed every day the suffering and destruction of wildlife that he has refused to accept.
Water giving back to wildlife
Oszkar regularly watering the wild animals when there is no drought, filling a 220 litre barrel every month next to the central wild watering hole, and in summer every 2 weeks about 1800 litres of water are filled into the wild watering holes at 6 different locations. The little water that remains in the region is shared by both humans and animals.
“I had the most attachment to the water.
Where my parents were building there was a big pond in front of the house. I've always looked forward to the water level rising enough to take a dip after the autumn rains. This water was never deeper than 50-60 cm. I spent whole days out there, exploring the aquatic world and doing a lot of boating. My father made a boat for me out of a combine harvester cab roof, and we used to go boating with the street kids! At the time, I couldn't imagine what a treasure it would be in 30 years!"
- says Oszkar
Oszkar and his father, cleaning one of the watering hole before loading water for the wildlife
“Before, I trusted in afforestation, because forests have many good qualities. Sand retention, improvement of soil structure, evaporation through evaporation, formation of humidity. But we now know that there's nothing left to evaporate, so that's not a solution either. Since the end of August 2024, I have been looking into the issue and looking for possible solutions to keeping water.
I walked around the county line and mapping the entire irrigation canal network while constantly thinking about what could be done.
And I found the solution next to the thermal bath. Catch and reuse the bath water from there.
I saw the work of another “Water Guardians” team, they closed the irrigation canals to catch the water and led out into the prairie to increase soil water content and it inspired me.”
"At the moment, the summers are almost unbearable here in the Sand Ridge, and I certainly don't want our children to think about moving. Summers really do look like, there's simply nothing to be here for, everything's on burned out, so much like a post-nuclear fallout wasteland..." - says Oszkar
Tamás, prairie family farmer, behind his greenhouse foil
"By mid-summer, the wildlife here is extremely thirsty. The wild rabbits are so thirsty that they go all the way to the farm. They chew through the pipes of the drip system, licking the water that leaks out. It's sickening to see, to experience the changes that are happening. Twenty years ago there was water a few metres away. Now we are at the point where the pump can barely suck up water from 30 metres.
The reason I joined the “Water Guardians” is to do something about the slow dying of the area," says Tamás, who grows crops.
Home
"This has been our family home for generations. The farm, the fields, the woods and all the creatures that live here or pass through are part of it. Around here, the protection of the farm is linked to the protection of the farm world, the habitats, the protection of life. It's our responsibility that goes with this way of life," says Kata, a Water Guardian and farmer.
Childhood memory, water on the lawn
Thirty years ago, although the groundwater table was already falling, autumn, winter and spring rainfall was still able to recharge the area.
Kata on the family farm when she was child, she was able to experience this.
Water and life in the irrigation canal after the closing
Kata, a Water Guardian, takes a break while caring for her animals
“My father used to keep geese and turkeys, but nowadays we can't have them here because of the bird flu. So I prefer to concentrate on keeping chickens, although that is slowly becoming impossible also. Since the outbreak of bird flu, the chickens have been kept indoors, which is safer, but this spring the outbreak is so bad that we will probably have to stop from September to April.
The drought has led to a steady rise in feed prices. In the heat, chickens need constant humidification, which requires water. But how can this be ensured when there are about 10,000 wells in the area and by mid-summer everyone is trying to irrigate at the same time to make up for the water shortage and the water pressure is running out? I have to look after 30,000 chickens to carry my family.” - says Kata
David's clock, in the window of his farmhouse
The four generations of the family have always been dairy cows, but David claims that his generation will be the last.
“What young person would want to go through these trials, the water shortages, the illnesses, the administrative burdens? And with non-stop work, you're lucky if you don't come out at a loss. I advise all young people, runaway of here. We work, work and work as hard-working, vital people, but our work has no honour. In fact, we want to work in vain if circumstances make it impossible. We're in the final hour!" says David.
Uncle Oszkar and Aunt Eva, Oskar's parents, in their room
“While my wife Eva worked in the potato fields, I worked as a loader in a nearby factory. And when we had some time, we went with our son Oscar to the near old lake, fishing, enjoying the birdsong, the water. Then everything changed in 40 years. The water became less and less, and with it the fish and birds.” - says uncle Oszkar
“Where do the birds disappear to? As a child I watched the swallows fly from this window”, says aunt Eva.
Migratory birds fly to the lawn that flooded by the “Water Guardians”
A tiny Garden of Eden in the wasteland
The 2 hectares of grassland, flooded by the water of the closed irrigation canal, is spectacular, you don't see many of these in the desert.
And the “Water Guardians” of the wasteland are the first to achieved this here.
At the deepest point is 80 cm of the temporary lake, and 2 months after the irrigation canal closure, already breeding birds, swamp turtles and fish settled here.
Oszkar with a small group of “Water Guardians” at the closed irrigation canal
"We achieved this. Even if temporarily, we brought life back to the wasteland," says Oscar.
Gergő and his son Levi, the “Water Guardians” of the wasteland, in the intentionally flooded area
Swirled sand under the water
The ground absorbs water like a sponge. After closing the irrigation canal, unfortunately the water level continues to fall, so additional closes would be needed to maintain the water level and increase the amount of infiltration to the ground.
Szabolcs, machine operator and member of the “Water Guardians”, sitting in his excavator after the work
His parents are farmers, keepers of animals. They have tried to make a living by rearing geese, but due to the bird flu in the area, they have been without geese for six months. They can't even farm, because in recent years they have had to irrigate the fields almost constantly, from less and less water.
“I see how tragic the situation is. If you want to produce, you have to produce water somehow first. I joined the water project because of my parents and also to increase the number of supporters in the community, because there are still people who don't understand the seriousness of the situation and are trying to hinder us.” says Szabolcs
Dredging canal bed and close the water canal
The local “Water Guardians” next action, with the permission of the water authority, was to clear the irrigation canal and put a plank in the flood gate to hold the water here for longer, raising the water level in the near lake and speeding up the flow of water into the ground. The dam warden did not recommend further closures, as several lakes in the lower areas are not yet full of water.
Józsi, the "Water Guardian" leaning against the bridge next to the closed water canal after work
As a tractor driver, he joined the team in case mechanical work was needed.
The ‘water handover’ ceremony
On 23 March, the “Water Guardians” met near the water to celebrate the community's success.
Each of the 36 members of the community brought something from their own farming and produce to the event.
Szilárd also brought his father's boat on the Danube, and Uncle Oszi brought the combine-roof boat he had made, which Oszkár used to use as a child.
Oszkar's welcoming speech to the community
Flooding the desired area took a lot of sacrifice, both in time and energy. It took 2 months to plan, execute and monitor, and some people had almost nothing remaining time to do any other.
Cancelled family events, land left uncultivated and unplanted, all became secondary for a time. Because water doesn't wait and when you have some, you have to use it: in summer it would be too late.
The “Water Guardians” of the wasteland
Imre & Gréti, going to boating in the wasteland
The release on the water
Oscar's childhood boat, made from a combine harvester roof, is back on the water after nearly 30 years.
Oszkar, the leader of the “Water Guardians”, in the flooded lawn, rows in his boat what his father made as a child
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