ABSTRACTS - Hydrological hazards associated with low flow periods at the lower section of the Mureş/Maros River. Long periods of low water with possible water shortages may lead to considerable losses. Despite this fact hydrological statistical analysis of such periods is poorly represented in publications. Water management of low water periods requires careful handling and needs deep professional knowledge. These necessities are especially emphasised on transboundary rivers, where decision making towards the proper measures can be reached only with the agreement of the interested countries. The 30.322 km2 Mureş River Basin is mostly in Romania (92%) and only a minor part falls to the territory of Hungary (8%). Flow records along the lower Mureş at Arad (in Romania) and Makó (in Hungary) are more than 50-year long. As it concerns anthropogenic impact observations cover different periods. Discharge series until 1980 are or only slightly influenced, while the impact of reservoirs on the temporal distribution of runoff is felt after that period. The impact of climate change and other factors can be investigated by the comparison of low flow series for 1951-1980 and 1978-2007 consequently. Discharge values of different probabilities can be compared and their temporal changes investigated.
Key words: minimum discharge, low flow periods, hydrological statistical analysis, transboundary rivers, water uses, discharge values probabilities.