1 Introduction to “Water Resources Management in Romania”
5
resource compensates for the necessary (Romanian Plain and Dobrogea). With all
this compensation, there are areas along the Danube River or rivers that have their
source on the territory of other states where water resources are insufficient [2].
The temporal and spatial distribution of water resources in Romania are unequal.
The Carpathians area with a surface of 28% of the territory of Romania generates
over 65% of the surface water resources. The essential volume of the rivers flow
is registered during the spring (almost 50% from the entire year). As a result, it
was necessary to prevalently build storage lakes. In 2018, lakes were counting over
1450 units, and the most important—400—were storing around 15 billion m
3 of
water [5]. They mitigate the variability of the hydrological regime of water resources
in Romania, determined by the large volumes accumulated or discharged in the
rainwater overflow periods (spring), and the drought-induced deficits (when the flow
rate drops to very low values in summer and autumn). Therefore, unlike the countries
of Western and Northern Europe, the lack of sufficient water resources risks becoming
a limiting factor of economic development if a strict policy of rational water use by
the responsible actors is not promoted [1].
Anthropic measures to regulate flows through accumulating lakes aim at restraining maximum flows during surplus periods to make them available during periods
of drought. In order to satisfy the water requirement, some accumulation requirements are imposed by the overflows in the mountain area, transfers of water from
the surplus river basins to the deficient ones, injection of suitable transfer volumes
(sands, gravels) of the transfer volumes or the phases with maximum drainage be
subsequently extracted with appropriate health protection.
It is worth mentioning that in 1976, the National Programme for the Romanian
Hydrographic Basins Management had been promoted, for the hydrographic basins
and even for the territorial-administrative units (counties) to assure a good knowledge
and management of the water resources. In the framework of this programme, the
building of storage lakes, damming in, water transfers between the hydrographic
basins, irrigation systems extension, water quality monitoring was achieved. Most of
these objectives had been partially stopped after 1989, and restarted after Romania
integration into European Union, under other terms and parameters introduced by
Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC [6, 7].
1.2 Main Themes of the Book
The book covers the following themes: water quality in three chapters numbers 2, 3
and 4, water supply in two chapters numbers 5 and 6, anthropic influence to water
resources in three chapters numbers 7, 8 and 9, hydrology in three chapters numbers
10, 11 and 12 and four cases studies in Chaps. 13, 14, 15 and 16.
5
resource compensates for the necessary (Romanian Plain and Dobrogea). With all
this compensation, there are areas along the Danube River or rivers that have their
source on the territory of other states where water resources are insufficient [2].
The temporal and spatial distribution of water resources in Romania are unequal.
The Carpathians area with a surface of 28% of the territory of Romania generates
over 65% of the surface water resources. The essential volume of the rivers flow
is registered during the spring (almost 50% from the entire year). As a result, it
was necessary to prevalently build storage lakes. In 2018, lakes were counting over
1450 units, and the most important—400—were storing around 15 billion m
3 of
water [5]. They mitigate the variability of the hydrological regime of water resources
in Romania, determined by the large volumes accumulated or discharged in the
rainwater overflow periods (spring), and the drought-induced deficits (when the flow
rate drops to very low values in summer and autumn). Therefore, unlike the countries
of Western and Northern Europe, the lack of sufficient water resources risks becoming
a limiting factor of economic development if a strict policy of rational water use by
the responsible actors is not promoted [1].
Anthropic measures to regulate flows through accumulating lakes aim at restraining maximum flows during surplus periods to make them available during periods
of drought. In order to satisfy the water requirement, some accumulation requirements are imposed by the overflows in the mountain area, transfers of water from
the surplus river basins to the deficient ones, injection of suitable transfer volumes
(sands, gravels) of the transfer volumes or the phases with maximum drainage be
subsequently extracted with appropriate health protection.
It is worth mentioning that in 1976, the National Programme for the Romanian
Hydrographic Basins Management had been promoted, for the hydrographic basins
and even for the territorial-administrative units (counties) to assure a good knowledge
and management of the water resources. In the framework of this programme, the
building of storage lakes, damming in, water transfers between the hydrographic
basins, irrigation systems extension, water quality monitoring was achieved. Most of
these objectives had been partially stopped after 1989, and restarted after Romania
integration into European Union, under other terms and parameters introduced by
Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC [6, 7].
1.2 Main Themes of the Book
The book covers the following themes: water quality in three chapters numbers 2, 3
and 4, water supply in two chapters numbers 5 and 6, anthropic influence to water
resources in three chapters numbers 7, 8 and 9, hydrology in three chapters numbers
10, 11 and 12 and four cases studies in Chaps. 13, 14, 15 and 16.