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I. Minea
resources becoming vulnerable involve changes in the natural flow regime and evolution of hydrographic networks and groundwater bodies through reservoirs, derivations from one hydrographic basin to another, desiccation, aqueducts or the collection
of large volumes of water for economic and social purposes [36]. The changes that
such anthropic actions bring to water bodies are both quantitative and qualitative.
In areas of water scarcity, large volumes of water are translated across seasons or
from neighboring areas, the anthropic impact becoming exponential [16, 43, 48].
Eastern Romania is such an area, its water deficit during the summer months being
counteracted with water volumes either translated from one season to another, or
from neighboring basins, through various catchments [24]. The role of the latter is,
firstly, to ensure a certain volume of water during periods of pluviometric deficit and,
secondly, to minimize the effects of extreme hydrologic phenomena (flash floods,
floods, drought) [44, 46, 49].
Onto this historical background of water management, current climate change
adds itself in an increasingly pronounced manner. Through the cumulation of natural
mechanisms, climate change gradually leads to increase of natural extreme phenomena. In this region in the category of the most important extreme phenomena we can
include aridization, as a result of an increase in the frequency of extreme temperature
values and precipitation volumes [7, 9, 20, 52]. Also the concentration of precipitation within limited time intervals lead to an increase in the frequency of catastrophic
floods, in maximum annual flow for the hydrographic network and changes in the
groundwater level [3, 4, 6, 8, 60]. Such processes are, as expected, ever more noticeable in areas where resource-related vulnerability is added to economic and social
vulnerability.
Through both regional and local strategies, general and coherent sustainable development principles are currently being introduced, so that areas with increased vulnerability of water sources to the impact of anthropic activities and climate change
are able to meet economic demands and face increasingly significant climate change
[10–12, 61].
The issue of water resources and the anthropic impact upon them is of great
scientific interest at international level by assessing the pollution of groundwater
[19, 28, 50, 53, 54] or evaluation on water balance in different hdyrological extreme
condition [31, 32]. In Romania anthropic impact on water resources was focused
on wetlands [33, 34], to capitalize on the hydropower potential [35], or evaluation
of surface water pollution in different natural condition [2, 14, 37–41, 47, 59]. For
Eastern Romania, given the current issue of drought, the emphasis is laid on the
exploitation of groundwater sources, particularly within the Moldavian Plateau [5,
17, 23, 25, 29]. To minimize the effects of drought, large-scale ponds or lakes have
been created within the Moldavian Plain and on the most significant streams of the
area, namely Siret, Prut, Jijia etc. [42, 45].
As a result, the present paper seeks, primarily, to identify the main issues associated with the anthropic impact and climate change upon the water resources of
Eastern Romania, taking into account the social and natural characteristics of the
region.
I. Minea
resources becoming vulnerable involve changes in the natural flow regime and evolution of hydrographic networks and groundwater bodies through reservoirs, derivations from one hydrographic basin to another, desiccation, aqueducts or the collection
of large volumes of water for economic and social purposes [36]. The changes that
such anthropic actions bring to water bodies are both quantitative and qualitative.
In areas of water scarcity, large volumes of water are translated across seasons or
from neighboring areas, the anthropic impact becoming exponential [16, 43, 48].
Eastern Romania is such an area, its water deficit during the summer months being
counteracted with water volumes either translated from one season to another, or
from neighboring basins, through various catchments [24]. The role of the latter is,
firstly, to ensure a certain volume of water during periods of pluviometric deficit and,
secondly, to minimize the effects of extreme hydrologic phenomena (flash floods,
floods, drought) [44, 46, 49].
Onto this historical background of water management, current climate change
adds itself in an increasingly pronounced manner. Through the cumulation of natural
mechanisms, climate change gradually leads to increase of natural extreme phenomena. In this region in the category of the most important extreme phenomena we can
include aridization, as a result of an increase in the frequency of extreme temperature
values and precipitation volumes [7, 9, 20, 52]. Also the concentration of precipitation within limited time intervals lead to an increase in the frequency of catastrophic
floods, in maximum annual flow for the hydrographic network and changes in the
groundwater level [3, 4, 6, 8, 60]. Such processes are, as expected, ever more noticeable in areas where resource-related vulnerability is added to economic and social
vulnerability.
Through both regional and local strategies, general and coherent sustainable development principles are currently being introduced, so that areas with increased vulnerability of water sources to the impact of anthropic activities and climate change
are able to meet economic demands and face increasingly significant climate change
[10–12, 61].
The issue of water resources and the anthropic impact upon them is of great
scientific interest at international level by assessing the pollution of groundwater
[19, 28, 50, 53, 54] or evaluation on water balance in different hdyrological extreme
condition [31, 32]. In Romania anthropic impact on water resources was focused
on wetlands [33, 34], to capitalize on the hydropower potential [35], or evaluation
of surface water pollution in different natural condition [2, 14, 37–41, 47, 59]. For
Eastern Romania, given the current issue of drought, the emphasis is laid on the
exploitation of groundwater sources, particularly within the Moldavian Plateau [5,
17, 23, 25, 29]. To minimize the effects of drought, large-scale ponds or lakes have
been created within the Moldavian Plain and on the most significant streams of the
area, namely Siret, Prut, Jijia etc. [42, 45].
As a result, the present paper seeks, primarily, to identify the main issues associated with the anthropic impact and climate change upon the water resources of
Eastern Romania, taking into account the social and natural characteristics of the
region.