Vulnerability of urban floods in association with the sewage system and geographical features in the Giulești – Sârbi neighborhood, Bucharest, Romania

Crina Radu,Marius Andrei Raduc,Andreea Beteringhe

doi:10.15551/pesd2021152018

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the vulnerability of floods and their impact in the Giulești-Sârbi area, the marginal northwestern neighborhood of Bucharest. The location of the accumulation lake has hydrological importance for the studied area. The anthropogenic dam is one of the susceptible sources of floods, but the most inefficiency of the sewage system is the actual principal cause, which frequently flows back when there are significant increases in rainfall. The motivation for choosing the study is represented by the vulnerability of the Giulești-Sârbi area and by the lack of a study on flood vulnerability and frequency in the area. A questionnaire was also applied locally, some of the results being presented in this paper. The main objectives of the study refer to the spatialization at the street level of the vulnerability of floods and their following impact. It also compares the vulnerability of floods after two key periods: before and after the construction of the dam, respectively 1980 and 2020 – for the comparison and evolution of terrain changes. The problem was also analyzed by the vulnerability related to the slope, land use and geological characteristics. The results show that the Giulești-Sârbi neighborhood is still susceptible to floods. The most affected streets are those from the southeastern part of the neighborhood and punctually to the NW. On the other hand, the application of the questionnaire shows that the southernmost street (Răsadniței Street) did not register problems as often as the current hazard maps from the rowater.ro source for which the highest vulnerability was expected to show. The areas indicating problems according to the questionnaires and Romanian Waters National Administration maps largely coincide with the results of the vulnerability maps resulting in this paper. The main solution that can reduce the effect of flood vulnerability is the modernization of the sewage system.

Highlights

Urban flooding events are much more found in the last century than in the past, being the highest reported climate hazard (Diaconu et al, 2021)
Urban Flooding Network is divided in two main parts: Connecting Delta Cities which is focused on flooding relevand to costal conditions and Cool Cities Network which support cities to adapt on Urban Heat impacts
The main advantage of the separate sewerage system is the capacity of the water treatment plant will be smaller since only domestic sewage alone is to be treated

Summary

Introduction

Urban flooding events are much more found in the last century than in the past, being the highest reported climate hazard (Diaconu et al, 2021). Some of the cities found a way to solve the urban flooding problem by forming an organization called Urban Flooding Network that support them to identify, plan and implement projects. Urban Flooding Network is divided in two main parts: Connecting Delta Cities which is focused on flooding relevand to costal conditions and Cool Cities Network which support cities to adapt on Urban Heat impacts. In this project, the main cities are: Amsterdam, Accra, Cape Town, Copenhagen, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tel Aviv, Yokohama, Boston and other 26 cities (c40.org)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion