Dams, sediment sources and reservoir silting in Romania

We analyzed 138 reservoirs with initial volumes between 1 × 106 m3 and 1230 × 106 m3 for which there is a determination of the silting time. The situation of the reservoirs silting from Romania is as follows: very serious for 15 dam reservoirs with average dimensions of 8 million m3, all of them situated in the Sub-Carpathian area, one of the important sediment production areas (over 500 tons/km2/year), with the silting time T50 of these reservoirs having values between 2 and 10 years; serious for 30 reservoirs, with average capacities of 35 million mc, and the silting time T50 between 10 and 50 years. In this case, the reservoirs are also situated in the area of important specific sediment production of over 250 tons/km2/year (the case of the rivers Olt, Argeş, Buzău, and Bistriţa but also of the reservoirs in the Bârlad basin), many of them being arranged as a cascade of small reservoirs on the main rivers; difficult for 13 reservoirs, with a silting time < 100 year and which are usually situated in the area at about 200 tons/km2/year.