The South Bohemian Region declared a drought emergency for its entire territory on 6 October 2026. The region has been suffering from drought for several weeks, and because of a long-term lack of rainfall millions of cubic metres of water are missing in reservoirs, ponds and rivers.[2] Among other things, the declaration allows faster management of outflows from reservoirs: under normal conditions various institutions, such as the fishing association, would have to give their views and the procedure would take several days, whereas during a drought emergency the river basin authority Povodí Vltavy can proceed immediately in cooperation with the region.[1][2]
Husinec reservoir
According to Jiří Baloun, director of the Upper Vltava plant of Povodí Vltavy, the Husinec reservoir on the Blanice river became the first Czech dam to almost run dry. The storage space held 30,000 cubic metres of water, or 1.3 per cent of its usual volume, and the water level was seven metres below normal.[1] Povodí Vltavy will therefore release only the inflow and stop using water to improve the flow of the Blanice. This will happen once the minimum operating level of 515.33 metres above sea level is reached, which Baloun estimated at about two days. According to him, this has not happened during his time in the post.[1]
The Husinec waterworks was built between 1934 and 1939 about three kilometres upstream of the town of Husinec. It was originally intended for flood protection and for retaining water in dry periods. Since 1962 it has been a drinking-water reservoir for the town of Prachatice. The masonry dam is 197 metres long and the reservoir floods 61 hectares.[1]
Římov reservoir
Povodí Vltavy is preventively reducing the outflow from the Římov reservoir in the České Budějovice area from about 500 to 400 litres per second; the inflow is approximately 200 litres per second. The reservoir holds more than 16 million cubic metres of water, or 55 per cent of capacity, and supplies drinking water to more than 360,000 residents of the region.[2] After a meeting of the crisis staff, regional governor Martin Kuba (Naše Česko) said that a smaller volume of water makes treatment harder because cyanobacteria multiply more in the reservoir. The Jihočeský vodárenský svaz therefore restarted the Otava water treatment plant in Písek, which had suspended operation in 2026 because of the low river level. The regional governor also asked residents not to waste water.[2]
Related articles: South Bohemian Region
Chronology
- — South Bohemian Region declared a state of drought for its entire territory, and the Husinec reservoir in Prachatice District has almost run dry because of the prolonged drought. ČTK / České noviny ČTK / České noviny
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 6 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 6 October 2026