SEMINARUL GEOGRAFIC D. CANTEMIR NR.

28 / 2007

Extreme hydrological phenomena in the Vedea hydrological basin

Mihaela Borcan

Abstract
The droughts and floods represent natural phenomena and are components of the
natural hydrological cycle of the Earth. They marked and are still marking the development of
human society, being among the most prevalent natural disasters from the Globe and the
biggest producers of damages and human victims.
The study area, the Vedea river basin, situated in the Southern part of Romania, is
intensely marked by this kind of hydrological phenomena as a consequence of the transition
climate with some dry influences and especially due to the fact that it is overlapping a plain
and hilly area with a reduced underground and pluvial contribution.
The study of the way in which the drought and the floods affect the available surface
water resources and also the area situated near the water courses is necessary for the solutions
that are to be taken regarding their prevention and management.
The paper makes an analysis of the draining regime in the Vedea basin emphasizing
the identification of the periods with extreme characteristics (dry or rainy) and the
characteristic years from the minimum and maximum drainage point of view.

Key words: extreme phenomenon, drought, floods.

Introduction

The fluctuation of the river water resources is taking place between two
extreme moments, represented by floods and droughts. Considered as being natural
risks or hazards, according to their effects, those phenomena can become disasters or
catastrophes (I.Zavoianu, S. Dragomirescu, 1994) which cause larger or smaller
disasters in the functioning of the geographical systems. Under these conditions, one
of the most serious problems which hydrology and water management experts must
deal with is that of being acquainted with the floods and droughts characteristics for
estimating their probability occurrence and that of improving the security systems for
reducing the negative effects.
The floods represent top moments in the evolution of the river outflow. M.
Pard considered them as the most dramatic episodes of hydrology.

Data

The study area is represented by the Vedea river basin, one of the smallest
river basins judging by its area (F = 5340 sq km, H = 166 m, L = 224 m) (Atlasul
Cadastrului Apelor din Romania, 1992) out of the 11 representative hydrographical
basins of the country.
100 Mihaela Borcan

The Vedea river basin is situated in the Southern part of Romania and is almost
totally overlapped the plain area, but also the lower mound area where it has its
springs. (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Vedea River Basin

Taking into consideration the fact that the Vedea basin is situated at the
crossing of the sub-Mediterranean climate with the dry east-European one and having
a reduced pluvio-nival and underground supply, the area is intensely marked by
extreme hydrological phenomena like droughts and floods.
For identifying and studying the periods of drought and floods there have been
used the hydrological data resulted from the processing of the observations and
measurements performed in the hydrometrical network of the Vedea basin, the
analysis being centered on the Alexandria stations on the Vedea river and Teleormanu
on the Teleorman river.
For obtaining lively and conclusive results the analysis was based on
chronological lines of direct values, as back-dating and continuous as possible.
The flood genesis from the Vedea river basin is firstly connected to rainfall.
Most of the floods took place as a consequence of some heavy downpours associated
to high water levels (pluvial floods).
The occurrence of floods and their characteristics was influenced, besides
precipitation, by other factors, like permeability, the humidity degree and soil
temperature, vegetation, the riverbed slopes, the shape and surface of the catchment
basin.
The floods analysis, which contains hydrometrical data at the two basic stations
Alexandria and Teleormanu show that the last 40 years witnessed the biggest
floods ever recorded. These are the floods of 1970, 1972, 1975 and 2005.
Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007
 Extreme hydrological phenomena in the Vedea hydrological basin 101

In order to emphasize the most important floods from the Vedea river basin and
their distribution during the year we have chosen, based on the two analyzed stations,
a single flood, the one with the maximum proportion recorded in the observation
period (Figure 2).

Q ( m c / s)

900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2:2 8:2 14:2 20: 2:2 8:2 14:2 20: 2:2 8:2 14:2 20: 2:2 8:2 14:2 20: 2:2 8:2 14:2 20: 2:2 8:2 14:2
4 4 4 24 4 4 4 24 4 4 4 24 4 4 4 24 4 4 4 24 4 4 4
T i m e ( h ou r s)

H.S. Alexandria (2005) H.S. Teleormanu (1972)

Figure 2. Exceptional floods in the Vedea River Basin.

The flood of 1972 has the aspect of a singular flood and is due to the rainfall
that felt in the period 3 11 October, rainfall that generated at Teleormanu station a
maximum discharge recording of 278/mc/s. (Table no. 1).
The flood from July 2005 was caused by the rain felt between 21.052.06. 2005
characterized by important quantities and also by high intensities over a short period
of time.
The exceptional rainfall from the first days of July 2005 was followed by a
rainy period which started at the beginning of May.
In those conditions there was formed a flood which at the hydrometrical station
Alexandria produced the biggest discharge (835 mc/s) ever recorded on the lower river
section (table 1).

No. River Hydrometrical Year F H (m) Q max

Crt. stations (km2) (m3/s)
1 Vedea Alexandria 2005 3277 195 835
2 Teleorman Teleormanu 1972 1341 155 278
*souce : NIHWM
Tab.1. Exceptional floods in the Vedea River Basin.

For the lower part of the basin, the flood from July 2005 was seen as a
historical flood the biggest ever recorded and measured in the section of
Alexandria.

Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007

102 Mihaela Borcan

The chronological lines of the maximum annual discharges from the studied
stations have been analyzed from an evolutionary point of view that is the deviation
from the hydrological average considered for the period 1950 2006. The results of
the analysis are presented in the figures 3 and 4.

Q m a x (m c/s )
30

25

20

15

10

0
1950

1952

1954

1956

1958

1960

1962

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004
Ye a rs
Mean annual dis c harge Mean m ultiannual dis c harge

Figure 3. The variation of the mean annual discharge at H. S. Alexandria

on Vedea River.

Q ma x (m c/s)
10

0
1950

1953

1956

1959

1962

1965

1968

1971

1974

1977

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

Years
Mean annual dis charge Mean m ultiannual dis charge

Figure 4. The variation of the mean annual discharge at H. S. Teleormanu

on Teleorman River.

The hydrological drought is represented by the maintenance of a water

resources deficit over a relatively long and continuous period.
The Southern part of the country in which Vedea basin is included, is
frequently affected by droughts, like the entire outer - Carpathian space in which the
excessive characteristics of the temperate- continental climate are strongly manifested.

Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007

 Extreme hydrological phenomena in the Vedea hydrological basin 103

Because, unlike floods, the rivers drying out have unfavorable socio
economical consequences, it is considered a risk phenomenon.
In the Vedea river basin the drying out phenomenon is specific to all rivers
because it gathers the waters at the high plain level.
Regarding the minimum outflow, we have analyzed the chronological line of
the annual values, identifying the periods of relatively continuous hydrological
droughts in which the discharges and the outflow volumes were situated at low levels.
The use of the deciles method for the line of the outflow annual value
classified the years from the chronological line existent at H.S. Alexandria in rainy,
arid and normal.
The arid years can be grouped in a few different periods in which the drought
had continuity from one year to another. The periods considered as being very dry in
the interval 1958 2006 were: 1950 1951, 1986 1990, 2000 2002. We can
observe from the following charts (figure 5) that the arid years taken into account are
situated from the numeric point of view much lower compared to the mean annual
value. (the period 2000 2002).

2001 2002
2000

20 20
25
18 18

16 16
20
14
14
12
12
15 10
10
8
8 6
10
6 4

5
4 2

2 0
I II III IV V VI VII VII IX X XI XII
0
0

I II III IV V VI VII VII IX X XI XII

I II III IV V VI VII VII IX X XI XII
M ul t i annual I n t he dr y year 2002
Mult a
i n n ual I n t he dr y year 2 0 0 0
Mul ti annual In the dr y year 2001

Figure 5. The drainage regime for the years 2000-2002

As a consequence of this chart analysis we can observe that the driest months
are the ones of the summer season.
The amplitude of the drought phenomenon in those years and its differentiated
territorial manifestation in the habitat of the Vedea basin is suggestively illustrated by
the distribution of the modulus coefficients represented by the fraction between the
values corresponding to each arid year and the mean annual average from each
hydrometric station of Vedea basin.
The calculation of the module coefficient K (K = Qdryyear ) was made for all
Q
the stations of the Vedea basin and was accomplished for the last very dry years.
(1990, 1992, 1994, 2000).

Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007

104 Mihaela Borcan

The results of those coefficients position are presented in the maps from figure
6.

Figure 6. The distribution of the K module coefficient( K = Qdryyear ) for 1990, 1992,
Q
1994, 2000

Those coefficients reveal the proportion between the discharges of the mean
annual average outflow in the arid years and the mean annual values. As a specific
characteristic of the four arid years taken into consideration is the recording of low
values for some coefficients of the plain rivers (> 0.2 and between 0.2 0.5) where the
underground contribution is extremely reduced and of some higher values but still
sub-unitary ones for the rivers with springs in the sub-Carpathian area were the
underground contribution is relatively constant, thus compensating the lack of rainfall.
Differences are ascertained also between the sub - basins of the Vedea basin.
In what concerns the distribution of the minimum monthly discharges the
most arid months are the ones from the autumn season especially September.
March and December are not affected by droughts as a consequence of the
frost and thaw. (Figure 7).

2 0

1 8

1 6

1 4

1 2
Number of values

1 0

0
I II III IV V V I V II V III IX X X I X II
T ( m o n t h s )

D r y m o n th s

Figure 7. The appearance frequency of the driest month of the year

for the interval 1950-2006 at H. S. Alexandria - Vedea river.

Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007

 Extreme hydrological phenomena in the Vedea hydrological basin 105

Conclusions

The Vedea river basin is intensely and frequently marked by extreme

hydrological phenomena as a consequence of the landscape and climate at which we
can add the water consumption of the big cities within the basin and the irrigations
which determine a decrease in the outflow of this basin.
The outflow regime from the river basin Vedea is marked by a great
variability over time.
For example the average annual discharges vary from 2 3 mc/s to 0.2 mc/s.
The maximum discharges can vary from 2 3 mc/s in a dry year to over 800
mc/s in an excessively rainy year as 2005 was.
In this context we can state that the outflow regime in the Vedea river basin
has a similar character as the torrential one of the small basins situated in the plain and
mound areas from the Southern part of the country.

References
Dr. ing. Diaconu, C., Dr. Mita P. (1991) Instructiuni pentru calculul scurgerii maxime in
bazine mari, INMH, Bucuresti
Pard, M. (1993), Fleuves et rivires, Paris.
Zavoianu, I.; Dragomirescu, S. (1994), Asupra terminologiei folosite in studiul fenomenelor
naturale extreme, St. si cerc. de geogr., XLI, Bucuresti.
***(1992) Atlasul cadastrului apelor din Romnia, Editura Romcart S.A., Bucureti
***(1997) Instruciuni pentru calculul debitelor maxime n bazine mari, INMH, Bucureti

Lucrrile Seminarului Geografic D. Cantemir nr. 28, 2007