FLOODS CHARACTERISTIC TO THE PRUT RIVER (ROMANIA) (I)
G. ROMANESCU
ABSTRACT. - Foods characteristic to the Prut river (Romania). The Prut River springs from Ukraine and discharges into the Danube. It covers 952.9 km. It represents the State border between Ukraine, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova. The catchment basin is part of the temperate continental climate of transition, where rains are heavy. The flood waves of the upper sector are caused by the rains fallen in the Forested Carpathians. Because of slopes and high velocities, flood peaks are sharp, levels are very high and they unfold within a very short time frame. Flood waves (Rădăuți Prut) upstream from the Stânca-Costești reservoir and within the lower sector (Prisăcani, Drănceni, Fălciu, Oancea) present natural forms, with steep peaks and slopes. Flood waves downstream from the Stânca-Costești reservoir (Stânca Downstream, Ungheni) are artificial, controlled by the dam. The flood wave of 2008 – the highest in the history of Prut River, with a maximum discharge of 4240 m3/s (initial calculated discharge 7146 m3/s) – featured the most interesting characteristics: upstream from the dam, it was sharp, with extremely abrupt slopes; downstream from the dam, the flattened top maintained – with few alterations – as far as the gauging station of Oancea. At the Oancea station, it ended one month after the one corresponding to the Rădăuți Prut station. This study aims at demonstrating the influence of Stânca-Costești reservoir on the manifestation of flood waves within the upper and the lower sector.
Keywords: catchment, floods, heavy rain, management, Prut River