PRAGUE, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The Czech Republic is suffering a "catastrophic" drought due to a lack of precipitation and increasing average temperatures that are leading to the evaporation of groundwater, Environment Minister Richard Brabec said on Wednesday.
Compared to normal, the country is seeing falling precipitation and an average temperature of 1 degree Celsius higher, according to Brabec's ministry.
"Currently, 80 percent of underground wells are in a state of mild to extreme drought, mainly due to the accumulation of the deficit in the last 6 years and extremely little snow in the past winter," explained Brabec.
The ministry said it is prepared to invest 6 billion Czech crowns (239.83 million U.S. dollars) in projects and subsidies related to water retention.
So far, the ministry has secured 2.5 billion crowns for 2020 and is negotiating with the Finance Ministry for allotment of another 3.5 billion crowns. (1 U.S. dollar = 24.91 Czech crowns) Enditem
