Chapter 10
Hydrological Impacts of Climate
Changes in Romania
Liliana Zaharia, Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac and Elena-Ruth Perju
Abstract This chapter provides a comprehensive synthesis of researches on hydroclimatic changes in Romania and presents some original results on hydrological
responses to climate changes in Valea Cerbului River basin (area of 26 km
2 ) located
in the Carpathian Mountains, based on the analysis of historical data and hydrological
simulations. Although there are spatial differences, on the whole of Romania, after
1960, a general decreasing trend of the mean annual streamflow was detected. More
or less significant changes in the annual flow regime were also noticed: upward trends
in winter (related to the increase of the air temperature and liquid precipitations to
the detriment of snowfall), downward trends in summer (induced by the general
warming and increase of evaporation), and upward trends in the autumn flow. By
2050, the simulations under climate scenarios indicate a general decline of the mean
multiannual discharges, significant increases of the discharges during winter and
pronounced decreases in late summer and autumn. In Valea Cerbului River basin
we investigated the changes in the magnitude and frequency of floods and low flows
based on observational data, as well as the expected streamflow changes, as projected
by simulations with WaSiM-Eth model (under B1, A2 and A1B climatic scenario, for
the period 2001–2065 relative to 1961–2000 period). The simulations indicate a slight
decrease in mean annual discharge (of 2% up to 6%) by 2065, an increase of mean
monthly discharges from January to April, and a decline during May–December.
Keywords Hydrological impacts · Climate changes · Streamflow · Romania
L. Zaharia (B) · G. Ioana-Toroimac
Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, 1 Nicolae B˘ alcescu, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: zaharialili@hotmail.com
G. Ioana-Toroimac
e-mail: gabriela.toroimac@geo.unibuc.ro
E.-R. Perju
National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, ¸
Sos. Bucure¸ sti-Ploie¸ sti 97E, Bucharest
013686, Romania
e-mail: ruth_barbu@yahoo.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. M. Negm et al. (eds.), Water Resources Management in Romania, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22320-5_10
309
Hydrological Impacts of Climate
Changes in Romania
Liliana Zaharia, Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac and Elena-Ruth Perju
Abstract This chapter provides a comprehensive synthesis of researches on hydroclimatic changes in Romania and presents some original results on hydrological
responses to climate changes in Valea Cerbului River basin (area of 26 km
2 ) located
in the Carpathian Mountains, based on the analysis of historical data and hydrological
simulations. Although there are spatial differences, on the whole of Romania, after
1960, a general decreasing trend of the mean annual streamflow was detected. More
or less significant changes in the annual flow regime were also noticed: upward trends
in winter (related to the increase of the air temperature and liquid precipitations to
the detriment of snowfall), downward trends in summer (induced by the general
warming and increase of evaporation), and upward trends in the autumn flow. By
2050, the simulations under climate scenarios indicate a general decline of the mean
multiannual discharges, significant increases of the discharges during winter and
pronounced decreases in late summer and autumn. In Valea Cerbului River basin
we investigated the changes in the magnitude and frequency of floods and low flows
based on observational data, as well as the expected streamflow changes, as projected
by simulations with WaSiM-Eth model (under B1, A2 and A1B climatic scenario, for
the period 2001–2065 relative to 1961–2000 period). The simulations indicate a slight
decrease in mean annual discharge (of 2% up to 6%) by 2065, an increase of mean
monthly discharges from January to April, and a decline during May–December.
Keywords Hydrological impacts · Climate changes · Streamflow · Romania
L. Zaharia (B) · G. Ioana-Toroimac
Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, 1 Nicolae B˘ alcescu, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
e-mail: zaharialili@hotmail.com
G. Ioana-Toroimac
e-mail: gabriela.toroimac@geo.unibuc.ro
E.-R. Perju
National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, ¸
Sos. Bucure¸ sti-Ploie¸ sti 97E, Bucharest
013686, Romania
e-mail: ruth_barbu@yahoo.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. M. Negm et al. (eds.), Water Resources Management in Romania, Springer Water,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22320-5_10
309