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The Czech government is to spend four billion crowns on measures to combat drought, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Agriculture Minister Martin Šebestyán and Petr Kubala, head of the Vltava River Basin Authority, said at a special press conference at the Slapy reservoir on Thursday. The National Drought Coalition is set to resume its work on Monday.

The money will go towards connecting water-management networks, retaining water in the landscape, building small reservoirs and ponds, and irrigation measures. Some will also be used to build larger water infrastructure. In the autumn, the cabinet is expected to discuss a special law specifying 20 planned water reservoirs.

Opposition parties criticised the government for its response to drought and heat. STAN leader Vít Rakušan called on the Environment Ministry to take the risks posed by climate change more seriously.

Age discrimination in the Czech labour market may start as early as 40, according to a study by the deputy ombudsman and researchers from Masaryk University, released on Thursday. It found that job seekers’ chances of receiving a positive response from employers decline with age, including in their forties and fifties.

The researchers sent 4,280 fictional CVs from men aged 40 to 55 to jobs advertised through the country's Labour Office. Although all the applicants met the job requirements, only 28.9 percent of those aged 40 to 44 received a positive response. For men aged 51 to 55, the rate was almost three percentage points lower.

Around 90 percent of the more than 1,400 small hydropower plants in Czechia have stopped producing electricity due to low river levels, according to the Czech Chamber for Renewable Energy Sources. Hydropower normally accounts for just three to five percent of the country’s electricity, so the drop is not expected to threaten the power supply.

Large hydropower plants are still operating, although some have reduced their output. Overall, hydropower production fell by around 17 percent in the first half of the year. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute says this is one of the driest years since 1961, with rainfall so far at just 66 percent of the 1991–2020 average.

The risk of wildfires has spread across all of Czechia due to continuing drought and hot weather, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute warned on Thursday. The risk is expected to increase over the weekend as winds strengthen.

The warning remains in place until further notice, with temperatures expected to exceed 32 degrees Celsius across most of the country. Meteorologists say this year is among the driest since records began in 1961, with rainfall so far at just 66 percent of the 1991–2020 average.

Some rain could arrive in the form of thunderstorms on Sunday, mainly in Bohemia, with further showers and storms expected next week. Temperatures should also fall.