IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i12p9502-d1170273.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Re-Thinking Ecological Flow in Romania: A Sustainable Approach to Water Management for a Healthier Environment

Author

Listed:
  • Cornel Ilinca

    (Faculty of Hydrotechnics, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, 020396 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Cristian Gabriel Anghel

    (Faculty of Hydrotechnics, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, 020396 Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

Water resources and aquatic ecosystems are facing significant threats due to unsustainable water management practices. To address this challenge in Romania, a sustainable approach to water management is necessary, re-thinking ecological flow. This article proposes a re-thinking of the current approach to ecological flow in Romania by advocating for a more holistic and integrated approach considering environmental factors. The objective of the article was to present a methodology for the establishment of ecological flow that took into account the natural variability of flows. Four ecological flow values related to flood, high-water, medium-water, and low-water hydrological regimes were defined. To establish them, the duration curve of average daily flows was used in conjunction with hydromorphological and biological indicators. The proposed methodology was applied and compared to the existing methodology for the Uz river developed with hydropower use. The methodology represents a transition from the anthropocentric perspective to the sustainability perspective. The proposed methodology is easy to apply, with rigorously defined hydrological, hydraulic, and biological criteria. This research was conducted within the Hydrotechnical Faculty to refine the Romanian legislation regarding the improvement of the ecological status of all rivers.

Suggested Citation

  • Cornel Ilinca & Cristian Gabriel Anghel, 2023. "Re-Thinking Ecological Flow in Romania: A Sustainable Approach to Water Management for a Healthier Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9502-:d:1170273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9502/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9502/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khaleel Muhammed & Aavudai Anandhi & Gang Chen, 2022. "Comparing Methods for Estimating Habitat Suitability," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Rui Xia & Hao Sun & Yan Chen & Qiang Wang & Xiaofei Chen & Qiang Hu & Jing Wang, 2023. "Ecological Flow Response Analysis to a Typical Strong Hydrological Alteration River in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Na Wei & Jiancang Xie & Kunming Lu & Shuni He & Yating Gao & Feng Yang, 2022. "Dynamic Simulation of Ecological Flow Based on the Variable Interval Analysis Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Vanessa Ramos & Nuno Formigo & Rodrigo Maia, 2018. "Environmental Flows Under the WFD Implementation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(15), pages 5115-5149, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vassilios A. Tsihrintzis & Harris Vangelis, 2018. "Water Resources and Environment," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(15), pages 4813-4817, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9502-:d:1170273. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.