5 Water Supply Challenges and Achievements in Constanta County
183
These vast dimensions had as necessary consequences high pumping heads and long
distances to convey the water, which resulted in massive energy consumption.
The irrigation systems faced a gradual decline after 1990. The abolition of largescale exploitation structures, the introduction of differentiated water pricing according to pumping head and delivery point were among the factors that generated the
decline. The irrigated area varies every year, according to the precipitation regime,
but it can be an indicator for the timeline of this activity in Dobrogea. Thus, if in
2003, a drought-afflicted year, the irrigated area was about 124,000 ha, in 2007, a
year with a precipitation regime similar to 2003, there were no more than 26,800 ha
(9300 ha in Constanta County and 17,500 ha in Tulcea County) [14].
The infrastructure aged. Therefore, a series of rehabilitation projects were developed. The most recent project, The National Programme for the Rehabilitation of the
Main Irrigation Infrastructure in Romania, was launched in 2016 [16]. A rigorous
analysis, made as part of this national programme, revealed the main current issues
of the irrigation systems:
• low hydraulic efficiency;
• high cost of electricity for the systems still based on pumping (the Danube being
the main source of water);
• large water price.
5.3.2 Overview of the Main Types of Irrigation Water Supply
Pumping Stations Used in Agriculture
The main irrigation water source is the Danube, water being withdrawn directly
from the river or from the canal that connects the Danube to the Black Sea. Water
is transported on long distances, by a system of canals and lift pumping stations.
The first pumping station, the base one, takes water from the source at a high flow
rate and relatively small head and delivers it in a canal. At the opposite end of the
canal, there is another one named the first stage pumping station, which pumps
the water into another transport canal, operating at a smaller discharge and higher
pumping head than the base pumping station. An irrigation system used to have
several stage pumping stations so that water was conveyed to agricultural land situated
far away from the water source. At present, only the first stage pumping station
is still in operation, in most of the irrigation systems. The buried irrigation water
distribution networks are supplied by booster pumping stations, which take water
from the transport canals and pump it directly into the network. It is obvious that
such a large system is a huge energy consumer. It is the only option for irrigation
carried out with surface water, as long as gravitational irrigation is not possible in
this region. The irrigation systems that operate at present in Constanta County are
Galesu, Carasu, Seimeni, Nicolae Balcescu, Mihail Kogalniceanu, Harsova, and part
of Sinoe system that continues in Tulcea County.
183
These vast dimensions had as necessary consequences high pumping heads and long
distances to convey the water, which resulted in massive energy consumption.
The irrigation systems faced a gradual decline after 1990. The abolition of largescale exploitation structures, the introduction of differentiated water pricing according to pumping head and delivery point were among the factors that generated the
decline. The irrigated area varies every year, according to the precipitation regime,
but it can be an indicator for the timeline of this activity in Dobrogea. Thus, if in
2003, a drought-afflicted year, the irrigated area was about 124,000 ha, in 2007, a
year with a precipitation regime similar to 2003, there were no more than 26,800 ha
(9300 ha in Constanta County and 17,500 ha in Tulcea County) [14].
The infrastructure aged. Therefore, a series of rehabilitation projects were developed. The most recent project, The National Programme for the Rehabilitation of the
Main Irrigation Infrastructure in Romania, was launched in 2016 [16]. A rigorous
analysis, made as part of this national programme, revealed the main current issues
of the irrigation systems:
• low hydraulic efficiency;
• high cost of electricity for the systems still based on pumping (the Danube being
the main source of water);
• large water price.
5.3.2 Overview of the Main Types of Irrigation Water Supply
Pumping Stations Used in Agriculture
The main irrigation water source is the Danube, water being withdrawn directly
from the river or from the canal that connects the Danube to the Black Sea. Water
is transported on long distances, by a system of canals and lift pumping stations.
The first pumping station, the base one, takes water from the source at a high flow
rate and relatively small head and delivers it in a canal. At the opposite end of the
canal, there is another one named the first stage pumping station, which pumps
the water into another transport canal, operating at a smaller discharge and higher
pumping head than the base pumping station. An irrigation system used to have
several stage pumping stations so that water was conveyed to agricultural land situated
far away from the water source. At present, only the first stage pumping station
is still in operation, in most of the irrigation systems. The buried irrigation water
distribution networks are supplied by booster pumping stations, which take water
from the transport canals and pump it directly into the network. It is obvious that
such a large system is a huge energy consumer. It is the only option for irrigation
carried out with surface water, as long as gravitational irrigation is not possible in
this region. The irrigation systems that operate at present in Constanta County are
Galesu, Carasu, Seimeni, Nicolae Balcescu, Mihail Kogalniceanu, Harsova, and part
of Sinoe system that continues in Tulcea County.