A dead fish lies half-decayed on the shore. Its eyes have been picked out by the birds.

Hungary's Lake Velence will likely experience a massive fish kill. That's because oxygen levels in the body of water are too low, according to environmental experts. This means more and more fish will suffocate.

Hungary has seen temperatures soar to 40 degrees Celsius, with barely any rain. This heat is having a major impact on the country's third-largest natural lake.

Its water has never been particularly deep, but the current situation is dire. Water levels have been recorded in Agard, on the southern shore, since 1933. It dropped to a historic low in September 2022, measuring just 53 centimeters. Yet as of today, August 4, the water level has dropped to a mere 29 centimeters (11 inches).

As long as it doesn't rain and temperatures remain hot, the water level will continue to drop every day, by half a centimeter per day on average. The water is currently evaporating at such a fast pace that there may soon be no continuous body of water left, only isolated pools. This could mark a critical tipping point for the lake.

The impact of Hungary's ongoing drought is already clearly visible. The lake has receded by dozens of meters. Ground once covered in water is now so dry that the soil is cracking. The reed belt surrounding the lake, which serves as a habitat for numerous bird species, is now largely rooted in dry soil.

But not all living creatures are suffering under the current conditions: that's evident from a constant hum in the air near the water's edge. As fish and aquatic plants find their habitats shrinking, flies, bacteria, and other decomposers take over, breaking down what the drought leaves behind.

No swimming

The water shortage isn't just changing the lake — it's changing the entire region. Lake Velence is a popular tourist destination, located just 50 kilometers from Hungary's capital, Budapest. It is considered less crowded than nearby Lake Balaton.

But these days, there are barely any visitors. The remaining water has turned a brownish-green and taken on a slightly musty odor. A "No Swimming" sign has been put up, with yellow tape blocking access to the water. Five swimming spots have been closed to the public since July 23.

The Velence municipal government says the beach will only reopen once the lake's water quality improves, though it is unclear when that might happen. The persistent heat and low water levels mean the lake's water is getting warmer and warmer, leading to a growth in bacteria and blue-green algae.

Tourist industry under pressure

The people living around the lake, who make their living in the region's tourist sector, are hard hit by the lake's falling water levels. Today, only one family is visiting the northern beach — not for swimming but sunbathing. There is a water slide, slowly rusting away, with the end of the chute not even reaching the water anymore.

Only one kiosk is open today. A woman is selling langos, Hungary's well-known fried bread, as well as ice cream and lemonade. "The slide hasn't been used for years," the saleswoman tells DW. "It really needs fixing, but who will pay for it when fewer and fewer tourists come here?" Campsites and holiday homes around the lake seem deserted, with many stores closed.

Peggy Barath works in an ice cream shop on Velence Promenade, telling DW, "We've always had a lot of tourists here." She says many visitors were from East Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. But in recent years, their numbers have been dwindling "because of the lake's low water levels."

Peggy says that the ice cream shop now focuses on cyclists rather than tourists looking to swim, as cyclists are undeterred by low water levels.

No long-term solution in sight

Major interventions in the region's water cycle have made the lake more vulnerable to droughts over the years. "The lakeshore has been subject to significant construction activity over the past 15 years," Zoltan Kun, president of the Hungarian Great Lakes and Wetlands Association, tells DW.

"The water management authority has focused on quickly draining excess water from the region rather than storing it using nature-based solutions. And the agricultural industry destroyed our soils, which means they are less able to absorb water."

This isn't the first time Lake Velence has dried up. When this happened in the early 1990s, the lake was replenished with water from various other sources, a solution that proved effective but also expensive and time-consuming. That's why experts are calling for a more sustainable solution today, especially since climate change means more drought periods are expected.

The Zamolyi and Patkai reservoirs could, for instance, be renovated so that water could be stored there during periods of heavy rainfall. During dry spells, this water could then be diverted into Lake Valance.

Yet little has happened so far. In 2021, the government at the time, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, rejected a broad investment program for the lake on the grounds that it was too costly. Other projects, however, went ahead.

A new canoe center

Although it has long been clear that water levels drop to a critical level in summer and fall, authorities built a brand-new canoeing center on the north shore between 2021 and 2024, suitable for international competitions. The project cost about 140 million euros in government funds.

Lanes are marked off in the lake with buoys in front of the newly built spectator tower. It's very quiet, like elsewhere along the body of water. Floating docks sit low in the greenish-brown water.

The World University Canoe Championships were supposed to be held here in August, the first major event to be staged at the newly built center. Yet due to persistently low water levels, the event was moved to Szeged, southern Hungary, instead.

This means that for the time being, the Lake Velence facility remains nothing more than an expensive training center.

Nuclear power plant on brink of shutdown

Hungary's ongoing heat wave is being felt all over the country. Water levels of the Danube River have dropped significantly, exposing stretches of dry riverbed around Budapest's Margaret Island. Tourists and locals alike are taking in the unusual sight, snapping photos on a sandbar that has emerged off the island. The low water level has also attracted scrap-metal collectors, who use magnets to pull rusty metal objects from parts of the river that are normally submerged.

The low water level has dramatic consequences. With the exception of a few sightseeing steamboats, boat traffic has almost ceased on the Danube River. Not only that. Paks nuclear power plant, located about 100 kilometers downstream from Budapest, can no longer be cooled with Danube water. The site's electricity output, which covers about half of Hungary's power consumption, has been gradually reduced over the past few days, and it is set to be shut down later this week for the first time ever.

"We are facing a crisis that is beyond our control and putting us to the test," Prime Minister Peter Magyar said at a joint press conference with Interim President Agnes Forsthoffer on Monday. He added that the next five days would be the most critical of the summer of 2026.

Magyar has asked the Hungarian public to conserve electricity. Many companies have agreed to voluntarily reduce their power consumption. Some public buildings and bridges are no longer illuminated at night, and rail freight traffic is suspended between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Hungary faces a very challenging time, with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius expected over the next days.

This article was translated from German