Hungary drained its waters for generations. Now drought is exposing the cost

GÁRDONY, Hungary -- A fisherman disembarked from his boat in a small harbor on Lake Velence in Hungary last week, trudging up the dock plank that had become extremely steep as the water receded to record lows. Árpád Selmeci said navigating even a small fishing boat on Hungary's third-largest lake is becoming increasingly difficult as the water level has ebbed to around 20 centimeters (8 inches), well below the 150 centimeters (5 feet) optimal for August. Swimming beaches across the lake, once popular with tourists, have been closed. Lake Velence’s decline is part of a broader water crisis confronting Hungary as increasingly prolonged droughts and climate change-driven heat waves have pummeled Europe. “I've lived on Lake Velence since I was a child, and I've never seen the water so low," said Selmeci, 58. "It's terrible. My heart aches every single moment.” This summer, wildfires scorched the continent from the United Kingdom to Greece, while in Hungary, drought has damaged crop yields, led to drinking water shortages and threatened to shut down the country's only nuclear power plant. Yet the lack of rainfall linked to human-driven climate change is only part of Hungary's water prob...