The water level of Hungary's third-largest lake is expected to drop to new lows this summer due to climate change and decades of water mismanagement, threatening its ecosystem and tourism industry, experts and locals said.
Lake Velence, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Budapest, is a popular holiday destination but its water level could soon be too low for sailing and swimming, experts said.
On a recent warm day, children played on newly exposed sand banks reaching far beyond the lake's usual shoreline, while rental boats were moored at a jetty now far from the water and resting on the sand.
The lake's water level measured 56 cm (22 inches) on Wednesday at the town of Agard, data from the National Directorate General for Water Management showed, just 3 cm (1.18 inches) above an historic low of 53 cm (20.8 inches) recorded in 2022, the last year when Hungary was hit by an extreme drought. In the early months of 2026, the water level hovered around 80 cm (31.5 inches).
Without substantial rainfall, the water level could decline by half a centimeter (around 0.2 inches) daily, reaching as low as 30 cm (11.8 inches) by summer's end, experts warned.
