Water scarcity - This investment could solve the ecological water supply of one of the largest arboretums in Hungary

The Tiszakürt Arboretum is one of Hungary's largest protected botanical gardens. In the 1850s, the Bolza family began developing the park as a castle garden on what was then a wooded, marshy area due to flooding from the Tisza River. The waterlogged part of the estate was inaccessible for a long time, thanks to which a section of forest consisting of oak, elm and ash trees remained almost untouched in the floodplain. The arboretum, which has had an eventful history – during the communist era, football pitches were built on the site – has been managed by the Hortobágy National Park Directorate for the past decade. Due to periods of drought, it became necessary to ensure the ecological water supply of the botanical garden, and a public procurement procedure was launched to carry out the work.

Elements of a complex water management system may be renewed

The ecological water demand of the Tiszakürti Arboretum is supplied by the irrigation canal XII 1-3-1 of the Nagykunság irrigation system, whose water base is Lake Tisza. The Kiskörei Water Steps have played a central role in the water management of the region since 1973. This facility, the Tisza Lake and the irrigation systems connected to it ensure the water supply for agriculture, industry and the population of the Tisza Valley.
The inland water canals of the ecological water supply route of the Tiszakürti Arboretum are located within the administrative boundaries of 3 municipalities - Tiszainoka, Cserkeszőlő, Tiszakürt. The excess water collected in the cultivated areas is discharged through the Tiszakürt sluice pumping station into the main inlet of the inland water system, the Tisza River. One element of the investment is to solve the accessibility of the pumping station and the operational safety of the equipment.

Most of the work comes from cleaning up the canals and their surroundings

In the call for tenders, the Central Tisza Region Water Management Directorate specifies, among other things, the performance of riverbed and culvert cleaning works for the ecological water supply and water route provision of the Tiszakürti Arboretum.
For the 1354 m long Kungyalu I-6 canal:

• dredging and eradication of aquatic vegetation,
• the construction of a concrete embankment and a gully at the inlet of the penstock,
• culvert renovation and tree and shrub clearance

is one of the tasks to be carried out.

The task is to clean a closed riverbed without opening and demolition

Cleaning and rehabilitation of the obstructed culverts of the Hangácsi Canal will be carried out at several sites. The section of the canal between sections 0+000- 0+068 and 0+680-1+794 m is open-bottomed, while the section between sections 0+068- 0+680 m is closed, with 22 manholes. Both sections are to be cleaned, the former to make the road passable. Cleaning of the closed section shall be carried out without demolition.

The arboretum area would also be affected

The contractor will be asked to clean the culverts at seven intervention points in the Brick Slab Canal. An 800-metre stretch of the canal is located in the Tiszakürti Arboretum, which means that mechanical work is not possible in some parts. In addition to cleaning the culverts, the road along the canal will have to be repaired.
The tender also includes the replacement of the sluice gate 2 and the moving mechanism of the Tiszakürt sluice, the cleaning of the sluice pipe, the construction of a closed pipe section with a barrier on the unrescued side and the conversion of the existing open canal section into a closed system. A mobile pumping station will also be constructed to supply water from the Tisza.

Pump station may also get modern control

The pump station in Tiszakürt will also be modernised, and the winning bidder will have to replace the pump in addition to a PLC (programmable logic controller) variable frequency control system and GSM remote signalling system. In addition to the renovation of the pavements and fences on the site, the contractor will have to install a security camera system.
The contract notice specifies that there are two conditions for the contract to be awarded to the selected contractor: in addition to the provision of the necessary funds for the investment, a decision exempting the contractor from the provisions of Act LXIX of 2023 (the Building Act) is required.
The deadline for submission of tenders is 16 September.