7 The Vulnerability of Water Resources from Eastern Romania …
235
The implementation of the principles of the Water Framework Directive EC 2000
has allowed the grouping of surface water bodies (rivers and lakes) based on typology.
Thus, 324 surface water bodies have been identified and classified as follows: 230
natural water bodies (223 rivers and 7 natural lakes). Of these, 45 water bodies,
corresponding to rivers, have suffered significant anthropic intervention, 1 water
body in the form of a lake that has been significantly modified by humans, to which it
is added 45 artificial lakes and 3 other artificial water bodies (canals and derivations).
The total volume of surface water of the Prut-Bârlad area is around 3.661 M m
3 /year,
of which roughly 960 M m
3 /year is usable. This represents 94% of the total volume
and is provided, mainly, by the rivers Prut and Bârlad and their tributaries. The
Siret-Prut area also includes 72 significant artificial lakes (with surfaces exceeding
0.5 km
2 ), of which 49 serve complex purposes and encompass a volume of usable
water of 614.85 M m
3 .
When calculated in relation to basin population, the specific usable resource is
437.16 m
3 /inh./year, while the specific resource, calculated in relation to the volume
that is theoretically available (mean and multiannual), is 1.667.12 m
3 /inh./year. The
water resources of this hydrographic space can, therefore, be considered limited and
unevenly distributed across time and space. The mean multiannual discharge values
of the main rivers of the area are the following: river Prut 105 m
3 /s (3.314 M m
3 /year)
at its confluence with the Danube, river Jijia 10 m
3 /s (316 M m
3 /year), river Bârlad 11 m
3 /s (347 M m
3 /year) at its confluence with the Siret, river Vaslui 1 m
3 /s
(31.56 m
3 /year), river Tutova 1 m
3 /s (31.56 M m
3 /year). Of the total length of the
water bodies of the Siret-Prut basin, the non-permanent streams account for 80%
(River Basin Management Plan for the Prut-Barlad hydrographic basin, 2016–2021).
Across the Siret-Prut hydrographic area, 7 groundwater bodies have been identified, delineated and described, of which one is shared with the Republic of Moldova
[5]. All 7 belong to the porous type, the water being stored in deposits of Quaternary
or Sarmatian-Pontian age. The greatest number of groundwater bodies (6-ROPR01,
ROPR02, ROPR03, ROPR04, ROPR06, and ROPR07) has been delineated in the
floodplains or on the terraces of the rivers Prut, Bârlad and Siret, being stored in
porous and permeable alluvial-fluvial deposits of Quaternary age. Being located
close to the surface, they are unconfined, therefore subjected to anthropic strain
both quantitatively and qualitatively. The shared groundwater body ROPR05 (Central Moldavian Plateau), stored in Sarmatian-Pontian deposits, is under anthropic
pressure, yet has limited economic importance. The groundwater resources are estimated at 251.4 M m
3 (7.97 m
3 /s), of which 34.7 M m
3 (1.1 m
3 /s) come from phreatic
sources, and 216.7 M m
3 (6.87 m
3 /s) from sources located at depth.
7.5 Demographic Backgrounds
From an administrative point of view, the Siret-Prut hydrographic area covers almost
entirely the counties of Boto¸ sani (90%), Ia¸ si (83%) and Vaslui (100%), and partially
the counties of Neam¸ t, Bac˘ au, Vrancea, and Gala¸ ti. Its total population is approxi-
235
The implementation of the principles of the Water Framework Directive EC 2000
has allowed the grouping of surface water bodies (rivers and lakes) based on typology.
Thus, 324 surface water bodies have been identified and classified as follows: 230
natural water bodies (223 rivers and 7 natural lakes). Of these, 45 water bodies,
corresponding to rivers, have suffered significant anthropic intervention, 1 water
body in the form of a lake that has been significantly modified by humans, to which it
is added 45 artificial lakes and 3 other artificial water bodies (canals and derivations).
The total volume of surface water of the Prut-Bârlad area is around 3.661 M m
3 /year,
of which roughly 960 M m
3 /year is usable. This represents 94% of the total volume
and is provided, mainly, by the rivers Prut and Bârlad and their tributaries. The
Siret-Prut area also includes 72 significant artificial lakes (with surfaces exceeding
0.5 km
2 ), of which 49 serve complex purposes and encompass a volume of usable
water of 614.85 M m
3 .
When calculated in relation to basin population, the specific usable resource is
437.16 m
3 /inh./year, while the specific resource, calculated in relation to the volume
that is theoretically available (mean and multiannual), is 1.667.12 m
3 /inh./year. The
water resources of this hydrographic space can, therefore, be considered limited and
unevenly distributed across time and space. The mean multiannual discharge values
of the main rivers of the area are the following: river Prut 105 m
3 /s (3.314 M m
3 /year)
at its confluence with the Danube, river Jijia 10 m
3 /s (316 M m
3 /year), river Bârlad 11 m
3 /s (347 M m
3 /year) at its confluence with the Siret, river Vaslui 1 m
3 /s
(31.56 m
3 /year), river Tutova 1 m
3 /s (31.56 M m
3 /year). Of the total length of the
water bodies of the Siret-Prut basin, the non-permanent streams account for 80%
(River Basin Management Plan for the Prut-Barlad hydrographic basin, 2016–2021).
Across the Siret-Prut hydrographic area, 7 groundwater bodies have been identified, delineated and described, of which one is shared with the Republic of Moldova
[5]. All 7 belong to the porous type, the water being stored in deposits of Quaternary
or Sarmatian-Pontian age. The greatest number of groundwater bodies (6-ROPR01,
ROPR02, ROPR03, ROPR04, ROPR06, and ROPR07) has been delineated in the
floodplains or on the terraces of the rivers Prut, Bârlad and Siret, being stored in
porous and permeable alluvial-fluvial deposits of Quaternary age. Being located
close to the surface, they are unconfined, therefore subjected to anthropic strain
both quantitatively and qualitatively. The shared groundwater body ROPR05 (Central Moldavian Plateau), stored in Sarmatian-Pontian deposits, is under anthropic
pressure, yet has limited economic importance. The groundwater resources are estimated at 251.4 M m
3 (7.97 m
3 /s), of which 34.7 M m
3 (1.1 m
3 /s) come from phreatic
sources, and 216.7 M m
3 (6.87 m
3 /s) from sources located at depth.
7.5 Demographic Backgrounds
From an administrative point of view, the Siret-Prut hydrographic area covers almost
entirely the counties of Boto¸ sani (90%), Ia¸ si (83%) and Vaslui (100%), and partially
the counties of Neam¸ t, Bac˘ au, Vrancea, and Gala¸ ti. Its total population is approxi-