Michal Kravčík - People and Water International, Košice, Slovak Republic,

Humanity, through its activities (deforestation, agriculture, urbanization), accelerates the runoff of rainwater and causes draining of the transformed land. A fall in evaporation by only ۱ mm per day over the area of the Slovak Republic (۵۰,۰۰۰ km۲) leads to the release of additional sensible heat of around ۳۵ TWh for one sunny day. This is an amount of heat larger than the annual power production of all the power plants in the Slovak Republic. The rise in temperature differences causes breakdowns in the stable water cycle over the affected land and triggers off mechanisms which cause a rise in climatic extremes. It is accompanied by more frequent flooding, longer periods of drought, extreme heats, forest fires, a gradual drop in groundwater reserves, rainfalls, decrease in soil fertility and biodiversity. Spatial concentration in the fall of precipitation is accompanied by a concentration in the time division of this precipitation, i.e. periods of "drought" are lengthening and the timeframe in which the majority of precipitation falls is getting shorter. Comprehensive conservation of rainwater and enabling its infiltration and evaporation can stop or moderate the trend of regional warming - temper extreme weather events and ensure a growth in water reserves in the territory, curb erosion, increase soil fertility and biodiversity, prevent droughts, floods and fires. Investment costs for implementation and the maintenance of the measures in the first period are estimated worth roughly ۰.۱% of the country's annual GDP. The described insight represents a cardinal innovation input for sustainable development. It sets direction for private and state water management authorities, agriculture and forestry companies disoriented by changing climate and water-management conditions.

Restore rain, Climate Change, New Water Paradigm, Landscape restoration, Water Holistic