drought

What is it about?

After 1980, drought became a cyclic phenomenon that has spread over subtropics and mid-latitudes ecosystems and society. Agriculture and domestic or industrial water supply are the fields that received the most severe damage. Climate change in terms of water supply was expressed through UNESCO 1979 Aridity Index, which identified critical areas and periods affected by drought in north-eastern Romania. The most vulnerable areas, where the annual rainfall amount is usually less than 500 mm/year, are the most prone to severe droughts. However, as a result of the extension of built surfaces, the urban areas of the region are very affected by drought. For agricultural management, as well as for general water supply, the aridity in north-eastern Romania needs to be investigated at seasonal and monthly scales, using also other indices. Northeastern Romania is a region rich in surface water resources: the annual discharge volumes of Prut River and its tributaries reached 1.917 billion m3 in the year 2017. In the, the demand for industrial water supply has diminished, while the big demands came from fish farms. Two billion m3 from Prut River in its main tributary, Jijia were transferred, for water supply of the Ciobarciu wetland in 2017.

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Why is it important?

In north-eastern Romania, temperature, potential evapotranspiration, and UNESCO 1979 aridity index reveal, based on annual values, that urban and river meadows are prone to semi-aridity risk. Although droughts may occur at any period of the year, the incidence of droughts is more severe in spring and summer. Obtaining UNESCO aridity index for shorter timescales, it showed that the entire region is exposed to dry conditions, especially in May and July. As presented, the trends are negative for the two months, they are not statistically significant, but the weather stations serve large areas and we consider that drought has a more pronounced impact at a local level.

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