Siret River Research Articles

Reconstruction of the Late Holocene river channel shifts in the North-Eastern part of the Lower Danube Plain based on historical data

Several periods of increased fluvial activity and accelerated runoff / deposition have been identified during the Holocene in different regions of Europe (Macklin et al, 2006). According to Starkel (2002) the older phases were characterized by an incision of deeper and wider tracks and, since Roman period, especially during the past millennium, tendency had changed to aggradation, braiding and river avulsions. The turn to a more stable fluvial regime caused further incisions and the development of narrow and smaller meanders. All these fluvial responses can be mainly correlated with the climatic fluctuations (cooler and wetter phases alternating with drier and warmer ones), socio-economic changes (increased anthropic pressure) or both. The last major period of concentration of extreme meteorological and hydrological events is the Little Ice Age (LIA), which conventionally took place between the 16th and mid 19th century (Lamb, 1984). However in Romania the study of LIA and the associate fluvial effects is rather poor. The data regarding hydro-climatological events (weather conditions, floods) in the medieval period (mostly collected by Topor, 1960) is scarce and based on the few local chronicles and diaries of the foreign travelers. However these confirm the increased frequency and magnitude of the rainfalls in the summer (with several important peaks in the 1590 – 1690 interval) as well as the hard winters well documented for the rest of the continent. Changes in the configuration of the stream network, due to avulsions, can be evaluated based on historical maps only with the first half of the 17th century and the dating of the fluvial records is still missing. The North-Eastern part of the Lower Danube Plain (Fig. 1) is a large alluvial floodplain where Siret River collects several major tributary streams draining SE Carpathians (Putna, Râmnicu Sărat, Buzău) or the Moldavian Tableland (Bârlad), before joining Danube, near Galaţi. Surprisingly Siret’s floodplain (until the confluence with Buzău) it is larger by a couple of kilometers than Danube’s, despite the anastomosed character of the last one. This can indicate a progressive Holocene shift of the Siret’s river course from the Carpathians to the eastern edge of the floodplain or a transformation from a multi-channel to a single channel pattern. The instability was also specific to main tributaries, as is confirmed by the presence of multiple abandoned sinuous courses and relict meander belts in the area. An important shift of the Siret River’s lower course to a more eastern position during medieval times was briefly discussed, for the first time, by Antonovici (1929) based on couple of historical documents. The few questions we will try to answer to in this study are: When was formed the actual configuration of the river network in the study region? What was the impact of the LIA? How relevant can be the analysis of the historical data in the assessment of the river channel shifts?

Late Holocene soil and vegetational changes in the foothills of the SE Carpathians (Ukraine), based on the study of pedochronocatenas

A study of pedochronocatenas which include soils of archaeological sites is a reliable approach to reconstruct environmental changes since the time of the settlements existence. The studied pedochronocatenas include: 1) soils buried under ancient earth ramparts, 2) soils formed on the surface of these ramparts, and 3) natural undisturbed soils located close to the ramparts. The studied sites are located on the plateau between the Prut and Siret rivers (in the Glyboka district of the Chernivtsi region, South-Eastern part of the Ukrainian Carpathians). At present, this area is covered mainly by Haplic Greyzems and Dystric Cambisols under broad-leaved forests. Pedochronocatenas at two sites have been studied: 1) the Glyboka defensive rampart built during the IX-Xth centuries AD (1100-1000 yr BP, 14 C 1040±190, the Early Slavic time) and 2) the Grushivka rampart built as a defence from the Scythians during the Vth century BC (2500-2400 BP), but also with the new material deposited on the old rampart during the Early Slavic times. According to archaeologists [3–6] the ramparts were built in order to defend those sides of the settlements which were unprotected by natural barriers. Morphological and morphometrical soil analysis, as well as pollen study have been carried out in order to trace pedogenic, vegetational and climatic changes since the time of the rampart’s construction.

Identifying Pollutants in the Siret River Basin by Applying New Assessment Tools on Monitoring Data: the Correlation of Land Use and Physicochemical Parameter of Water Quality Analysis

Abstract The Siret River are used as raw water source for different municipal water supply systems, yet the Siret River are used as receiving bodies by some inhabitants and industry. In the study the quality of the Siret River water was determinate using a Water Quality Index (WQI). Results are presented from a field study performed on the Bistrita, Moldova, Suceava, Siret, Şomuzu Mare, Trotuş and Tributary River in the study area Siret Basin Romania. The main objective of this study was to determine is to find correlations land use to indicators physical-chemical of water quality, to investigate pollution source is more responsible for river water quality. This is of interest not only research context, but also for supporting and facilitating the application analysis postullend in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/CE) for the establishment of programmers of measures. For this purpose a slightly impact pollution source municipal wastewater treatment, land uses, urban, forest, agriculture and mining was selected and intensively monitored during six years January 2006 - December 2011, sampling was determined to meet the WFD standards for confidence in twenty two different control section of the Siret Basin. The main measures to reduce emissions to the Siret River were calcium, ammonium, sulfate, residue fixed (RF), sodium, chloride, free detergent and municipal wastewater treatment, concentrated on point emission. The main contributor to diffuse this parameters increased when more percentage of land was dedicated to industry and urban and less to forest and mining.

Modern means of monitoring the hydrological regime in the Siret River Basin (Romania)

The hydrometrical monitoring of the water courses represents a major step in apprehending the hydrological regime. The old systems of monitoring imposed - in special circumstances – great efforts from operators, who sometimes reached exhaustion. For example, a flood in the lower basin of the Siret River extends on a period of even more than a week; meanwhile the gauging station observer must provide recorded data at least three to three hours. Lately new monitoring programs have been introduced to cover both classical gauging stations, and especially automatic stations which are already installed in the field. DESWAT Project (Destructive Water) which was conducted with the financial and technical support of USAID (United States Agency for Investment and Development) and USTDA (U.S. Trade and Development Agency) aims to elaborate appropriate recommendations in the field of flood protection, including public information, and modernization of hydrological monitoring network in the Siret River Basin, using the latest technology. Siret Water Administration has currently 82 automatic gauging stations and 35 independent automatic rainfall stations from the DESWAT project. The information collected by the automatic stations represents basic elements for the hydrological forecasting program RFS (River Forecast System). As a result of the project "Plan for Prevention, Protection and Mitigation of floods in the Siret River Basin" (Part I) there were obtained hydrological risk maps for the Siret River and its main tributaries, so that in Part II of the same project to be obtained risk maps for the smaller tributaries. As result of the project, Siret Water Administration also benefited of the hydrologic modelling software ISIS necessary to adjust and update the maps. The EASTAVERT Project will be implemented by the partner institutions for water management in Romania, Ukraine and Moldova, and aims to reduce the vulnerability to flooding of the communities in the border regions by carrying out upgrading works at the hydrological complex Stanca-Costesti, improving the warning system by installing monitoring systems in the Siret and Prut River Basins and increasing the responsiveness of the population through information.

Seismic controls on contemporary sediment export in the Siret river catchment, Romania

While differences in catchment sediment yield (SY, [tkm−2y−1]) are generally attributed to topography, lithology, climate and land use, recent studies have highlighted that also seismic activity may have an important impact on SY. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the importance of this factor and the processes and mechanisms explaining its influence. Therefore, this study explores the role of seismic activity in explaining spatial and temporal variation in sediment export within the Siret Basin (Romania, 45,000km2), a catchment with a large variability in seismic activity.Based on previously unpublished long-term (>30years) SY measurements for 38 subcatchments of the Siret, we analyze the correlation between average SY, seismic activity and various other catchment characteristics. Our results showed that spatial variation in average SY was indeed strongly correlated with the degree of seismic activity in each catchment (R2=0.74). Also catchment lithology explained an important part of the differences in SY (R2=0.67). The combination of these two factors accounted for about 80% of the observed variation in SY, while other factors (e.g. topography, land use, climate, and runoff) did not significantly contribute to the explained variance in average SY.To explore the impact of a specific earthquake event on sediment export, we analyzed daily variations in suspended sediment concentrations of 10 subcatchments, five years before and after an earthquake of Mw=7.4 that affected the Vrancea region in 1977 and triggered a substantial number of landslides. Only one catchment showed a clear (3-fold) increase in sediment concentrations at unit discharge. For the other nine catchments, no consistent increase could be observed. This indicates that the impact of seismic activity on average SY is mainly indirect and not associated with sudden pulses of sediments, caused by earthquake-triggered landslides. Potential mechanisms that could explain such indirect responses are discussed.

EXPLORATORY SPATIAL DATA ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METALS CONCENTRATION IN TWO SAMPLING SITES ON SIRET RIVER

The study site is located on South of Bacau City, Romania, on two water courses: the Siret River – the branch flowing through the old riverbed downstream Galbeni Reservoir, and one of its tributaries - an infiltration channel, both of them being used by the locals for fishing and irrigation, and the common meadow for grazing. The study covers the right side of the Siret River, between the interception point up to Galbeni Reservoir dam and the equivalent length of the infiltration channel. The sampling/analyzing process was conducted on the field, where the values for pH, and the concentrations of Pb, Mn, Cd and Zn from water were determined. Clear differences between the water courses on pH (slightly alkaline on the channel, and alkaline on Siret River), Pb and Mn (the range of values is higher on the channel than on Siret River) and Cd (the range of values is higher on the Siret River than on the channel) were observed. From the spatial exploratory analysis there were identified: a common cluster of high values for Pb located between the right bank of the Siret River and the left bank of the channel, a small cluster of high values for Mn on the right bank of the channel and an another cluster of high values for Cd located on the right side of Siret River. Regarding Zn concentrations, they were in similar value domains in both water courses, and no clusters of high values were identified.

Кліматичні умови як чинник формування гідромережі та режиму поверхневих вод річок басейну Верхнього Сірету

A study of climate Siret River Basin within the Chernivtsi region. Designated hydrographic and hydrometric characteristics of rivers. The relationship between climatic conditions and the hydrographic network and the regime of surface water basin of the Upper Siret. Key words: river basin; climate; surface water; hydrological regime.

Determination of anthropogenic impact on the Siret River and its tributaries by the analysis of attached algae / Określenie antropogenicznych oddziaływań na rzekę Siret i jej dopływy poprzez analizę osiadłych glonów

Abstract The article is devoted to the determination of anthropogenic impact on the Siret River and its tributaries (the Sukhyj, the Mikhidra and the Malyj Siret Rivers). The taxons of attached algae were determined in this case. Then they were distributed in the saprobity groups and the correlation of each group was found. It was necessary to identify the stage of ecological regress on each site of the researched basin. The data about the ecological regress can be used as primary information on the aquatic ecosystem state for conducting the further researches. The next step of the investigations was counting of the saprobity index by Pantle and Bukk in Sladechek modification for classification of quality status of water in the researched basin.

Control Study of Siret River Quality in Pascani County Area and Estimation of Its Pollution Level

Abstract The study presents some authors’ experimental results for determination of some quality indicators (few general, specific and toxic physical-chemical indicators) analyzed at the beginning of summer season (June, 2013), in three control sections of Siret River in Pascani town area (i.e. Lunca-Pascani entrance, 1 km-upstream, and 1 km-downstream of Pascani bridge, respectively). The real pollution status of Siret River in Pascani town area is also estimated by the global pollution index (I* GP), and corresponds to values between 3.215-3.891 indicating ‘an aquatic environment modified by domestic and economic activities alongside the river with generation of stress effect against life forms’.

The influence of hydrochemical and hydrological factors on the qualitative and quantitative structure of ichthyofauna from predeltaic Danube area.

Thepaper is presenting some aspects regarding the influence of environmentalfactors on fish communities structure from Danube, between Siret River and PrutRiver mouth. Fish were collected from March to December 2010 in four fishingareas. During the year, 12064.23 kg, respectively 14692 fish of 29 species werecollected. Cyprinidae, the dominant family, 55.17% in term of number of species, was represented by 16 species (Cyprinus carpio, Carassius gibelio, Barbusbarbus, Abramis brama, Abramis sapa, Blicca bjoerkna, Leuciscus idus, Vimba vimba, Aspius aspius, Pelecus cultratus,Chondrostoma nasus, Ctenopharingodon idella, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix,Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, Rutilus rutilus).Other families had the following structure: Percidae (17.24%) with 5 species (Sanderlucioperca, Zingel zingel, Zingel streber, Perca fluviatilis, Gymnocephalusschraetzer), Acipenseridae (13.79%) with 4 species (Huso huso,Acipenser stellatus, Acipenser ruthenus, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii), Clupeidae (6.90%) with two species (Alosa immaculata, Alosa tanaica), Siluridae (3.45%) with one species (Silurus glanis) and Esocidae (3.45%) with one species (Esox lucius). The highest capture was 8217.62 kg (68.12%), duringthe spring season (March-May), followed by autumn season (September–November), with 1437.56 kg (11.92%). The water level and water flow showed highcorrelation with both number and total catch, respectively.

The Structure and Diversity of Fish Communities from Predeltaic Danube Area

The paper is presenting some aspects regarding the structure of fish communities from 22 Km of predeltaic sector of Danube River, between themouth of Siret River (km 155) and Prut River (Mm 72.5). The aim of the study isto assess the ecological status of the area, using some analytical and synthetic ecological indices, but also diversity and equitability indices. From March to December 2010, in four fishing areas (km 150-151, Mm 77-78, Mm 76-77,Mm 74-74.5), 14692 fish of 29 species, from 6 families and 6 orders, were collected. The best represented family is Cyprinidae with 16 species. Thenumerical abundance ranged between 1 fish/species (zingel, Danube streber and schraetzer - rare species) and 7019 fish/species (pontic shad - abundant specie). The Ponticshad (47.77%) and Azov shad (11.20%) are eudominant species, having the biggestpotential in fish productivity; common bream (9.15%) and common carp (7.36%) are dominant species.

Causes and effects of the catastrophic flooding on the Siret River (Romania) in July–August 2008

As a result of the massive deforestation and windfalling in Romania last year, catastrophic floods frequently occur with historic high-water marks only to be registered every 500 or 1,000 years. In that context, the north-eastern sector of Romania is especially affected, that is, the drainage basins of the Siret and Prut Rivers. The floods of 2008 affected the northern half of the Siret drainage basin and the northern part of the Prut drainage basin. The Prut River reached a historic peak discharge for all the rivers in Romania (7,146 m3/s), and in Dragesti, they also recorded a historic maximum of 2,930 m3/s on the Siret River. At the same time, other mountain tributaries of the Siret reached historic flow rate values: Suceava, Solonet, Moldova, Moldovita, Sucevita, etc. Catastrophic flooding in the north-east of Romania was caused by an increase in the frequency of rainfall events, exceeding 100 mm/24 h. The damage caused by the Siret flooding in 2008 was the greatest in the history of hydrological risk phenomena in that basin (over 2 billion Euros) and also in Romania. The amount of damage in 2005 (historic high marks) was significantly higher than in 2008.

Assessment of the warning system against floods on a rural area: the case of the lower Siret River (Romania)

Abstract. The development of non-structural measures such as an early warning system, across the Europe, in flood risk management, requires a better understanding of the public involved and of the territory threatened. This paper aims to conduct an assessment of early warning and information to people with an analysis of the population's behaviour, presented in a form of an event tree. The objective is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the warning system during a deadly flood in the lower Siret River (Romania) in 2005 and to demonstrate that each warning system has to be adapted to the territory in which it is effective. The behavioural model aims to determine to what extent the warning system can be improved but also to suggest ways to adapt risk education to the study area.

Levels and distribution of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in topsoils from SE Romania

The aim of this work was to determine the concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in topsoils (n=17) at two sampling depths in Southeastern Romania, including industrial (Galati iron and steel plant) and agricultural sites in Galati and Braila counties, as well as nature reserves such as Lower Prut Meadow (Galati County) and Bugeac Lake (Constanta County), and to compare them with national guidelines and values reported for other regions. The total detectable OCP concentrations vary in the ranges 58–1662ngg−1 dry weight (dw) for 0–5cm depth and 6–12,644ngg−1 dw for 5–20cm depth. Of these, the concentrations of HCHs, DDTs, and heptachlor varied in the ranges 6–6818ngg−1, 27–5826ngg−1, and 108–873ngg−1 dw, respectively, the highest values being registered near a cultivated area, located in the proximity of Siret River and Galati town, probably due to extensive use of pesticides in the past. Chlordane was detected only at one industrial site in Galati (53ngg−1 dw), while the levels of aldrin, dieldrin, endrin and mirex were below the detection limits in all the locations and for both depths. The total PAH concentrations for 5–20cm depth range from 9ngg−1 (Lower Prut Meadow) to 25,352ngg−1 dw (cattle farm), being lower than those reported for the upper 5cm layer. The PAH distribution pattern in this study is in agreement with that previously obtained for surface soils from Lower Prut Meadow (prevalence of 3‐ring PAHs), industrial area and farmland (prevalence of 4‐ and 5‐ring PAHs), their sources being industrial activity, traffic and agricultural waste burning. Carcinogenic PAHs contribute 44.8–56.4% for 5–20cm and 43.7–55.8% for 0–5cm depth to total PAHs. In some locations the HCH, DDT and PAH amounts exceed the legal values.

The sediment transport of the Siret River during the floods from 2010

Beginning with 2004 in the Siret River Catchment there occurred exceptional flash floods that exceeded the maximum historical values recorded, on the main river and on its tributaries (2004, the Trotus River; 2005, the Siret River, the Trotus River, the Bistriţa River, the Putna River; 2006 - the Clit River from the Suceava River Catchment; 2008, the Siret River, the Suceava River). The 2010 summer flood from the Siret River also falls in this category. This paper uses hydrological data (water discharge, suspended sediment discharge) between the 20 th of June and 10 th of July 2010 from 5 gauging stations located on the Siret River: Siret, Hutani, Lespezi, Dragesti, Lungoci, and also meteorological data (rainfall) measured at different gauging stations from the Siret River Catchment. The rainfall recorded in this time of the year in the catchment was very high, with values up to 210 l/m 2 in approximately 10 days. The hydrographs of the flash flood indicate the fact that the transit of the water trough the reservoirs system from the Siret River (Rogojesti - Bucecea and Racaciuni – Beresti –Calimanesti - Movileni) reduced the maximum water discharge with values between 7-27%. The values of the maximum sediment discharge also recorded a reduction while transiting this reservoirs system with approximately 60%. The evolution of the Siret river bed channel during this flood (aggradations with values between 15-100 cm and degradations starting from 65 cm until 200 cm, in different moments of the flood) is influenced by the high values of the water and sediment discharge and by anthropogenic interventions on the river bed (pit-ballast, regularization of the river bed, reservoirs). Processing the hydrological and meteorological data recorded during the flood (20th of June – 10th of July 2010) indicates two important features of this event: the climatic variability – exemplified by the big values of precipitations from the catchment and the anthropogenic impact revealed by the transit of the flood wave and the evolution of the river bed.

Сезонна динаміка кисневого режиму лотичної екосистеми (на прикладі р. Малий Cірет)

Проаналізовано сезонні зміни вмісту розчинного кисню у поверхневих водах р. Малий Сірет. Підкреслено вагомий внесок вітчизняних учених (П. І. Чернеги, Ю. С. Ющенка, В. Г. Явкіна та ін.) у розробку окремих аспектів даного питання. Із метою визначення фонових територій басейну річки Малий Сірет запропоновано та апробовано нову методику виявлення фонових і унікальних територій, які слугують еталоном для моніторингу басейну р. Малий Сірет.

Revendicările României privind Transilvania, Banatul şi Bucovina în perioada neutralităţii (1915). Mărturii documentare franceze şi româneşti / The revendications of Romania regarding Transylvania, Banat and Bucovina during the period of neutrality (1915). French and Romanian documentary evidences.

! is study deals with the negotiations between Romanian governement and Romanian diplomats on one hand and the diplomacy of the Entente on the other hand in the year 1915, during Romanian neutrality in the First World Confl agration. In fact, we attempted to underscore the the discussions between Romanian government and the French and Russian authorities on the topic of the Romanian rights regarding Romanian territories under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. As a result of these negotiations the Entente had to acknowledge the Romanian rights on Transylvania, Banat, Bucovina and Maramureş. ! e hard diplomatic eff orts of the Romanian men of state were designed to obtain the borders considered as essential in order to secure the protection of the country.At the very beginning the negotiations were very diffi cult because the Entente refused to agree all claims of the cabinet from Bucharest. ! e discussions became even more diffi cult because Romania had to deal directly with the Russians. ! e authorities from Petrograd hardly accepted teh Romanian wishes. ! e Governement leaded by Ion I. C. Brătianu insisted that Russia should admit the settlement of the Romanian border on Prut river. ! e President of the Romanian Council of ministers believed that the natural borders were better and, of course, more suitable than the conventional borders. First, Petrograd agreed the settlement of the frontier on Siret river. But in the end, due to the eff orts of the Romanian diplomacy and to friendly attitude of the Quai d’Orsay and of the Government from Paris, the Russians had to approve the Romanian claim during the summer of 1915.In Transylvania and Banat, Brătianu’s government intended to settle as frontiers the rivers Tisa and respectively Danube. Romania’s wish was to receive all the region of the Banat of Timișoara. Initially, agreed that Romania should obtain only a part of Torontal district. The rest of this zone was to be given to Serbia. Later, the French and Russian governments approved the cession of the whole district to Romania.Finaly, France and Russia consented to give to Romania all the region of Banat. So they answered gradually to the Romanian claims. Thus, the two parts, the Entente and Romania reached a modus vivendi after a long diplomatic activity.Analysing the evolution of the events, we must also underscore the important role of the French diplomacy. Many times, the French helped Romania to receive from Russia all that Brătianu and his ministers asked for. So, sometimes the French diplomats acted as genuine defenders of the national and territorial Romanian interests.

Spatial-temporal particularities of the ecological status of surface water bodies and pollution sources from Siret river basin

The ecological status of surface water bodies from Siret River Basin is monitored systematically and spatial in accordance with the requirements of European Directives in the water area. Analysis temporary and spatial of qualitative and quantitative status of surface waters (rivers, lakes) is achieved according to the specificities of each body of water resulting from physical and geographical conditions, climatic and hydromorphological regimes of river basin and from human activities.In order to know of those features, there are needed specific monitoring systems of water bodies. The parameters underlying the assessment of ecological status of rivers and lakes are monitored systematically and temporary: daily, monthly, quarterly, annually, according to these characteristics. In this context, the daily variations in environmental condition, expresses the current status of surface waters. Monthly changes are correlated with climate change and characterize the seasonal variations. On annual basis are identified the mean, minimum and maximum for each parameter and the trends (increase, decrease, regularity, periodicity, changes, etc.). Based on this information, extensive to multiannual level, it can achieve medium and long term forecasts and it might be issued the concepts and strategies for maintaining a balance and sustainable development of water resources. In this paper we have presented some issues related to the synthesis of spatial-temporal ecological status of water bodies managed by Administration of Siret Water Basin (ABAS). Results of studies on the ecological status of water bodies have been presented for the year 2009. Also, in this paper it was presented an evolution of the quantities of pollutants from wastewater discharged in surface receptors and their purification by water users from of activity of ABAS area in 1999-2009 periods.

THE SUSPENDED LOAD FLOW ON SIRET RIVER FROM THE NORTH SIDE OF MOLDAVIA DURING THE 2010 FLOOD

In 2010, an exceptional flood occurred on Siret River, with liquid flow rates so high that it exceeded the maximum values so far known in many of the monitoring sections (Siret, Huţani, Lespezi). The suspended load flows produced during this flood were uncommonly high on various sections of the river. This paper presents several aspects concerning the conditions in which solid flows are formed and how they evolve, as well as maximum rates recorded during this flood. Statistical processing of the instantaneous values allowed realization of an association of suspended load flows taking into account the liquid flow. There have also been realized a few very suggestive diagrams regarding special characteristics of the suspended load flow on Siret River. Following the analysis of the data, we have seen that anthropogenic impact proves to have the greatest influence on suspended load transportation.

The effects of the July 2005 catastrophic inundations in the Siret River’s Lower Watershed, Romania

The Siret River originates from the Wooded Carpathians (Ukraine) and has a length of 559 km on the Romanian territory. The upper river course is set on the Ukrainian territory, the middle course flows through the Suceava Tableland, and then the limit between the Moldavian Subcarpathians and the Bârlad Tableland, followed by the lower course crosses the Inferior Siret Plain. The hydrographical network includes 1,013 water tributaries (representing the richest river from this point of view in Romania) and has a length of 15,157 km, which represents 19.2% of the total length of the Romanian river network. This materializes in a density of 0.35 km/km2, compared to 0.33 km/km2 which is the average for Romania. The Siret River has the greatest watershed area, with a total surface of 42,890 km2, which represents 18.1% of the Romanian territory. Its discharge is the highest of all internal rivers of Romania, with an average discharge of 210 m3/s at the river mouth, and this is caused by the fact that most of the tributaries come from mountainous sectors, namely the Eastern Carpathians. In the summer of 2005, the most powerful floods ever occurred in the Siret River watershed with significant negative effects on the country’s economy. Considering the multiannual average discharge of 210 m3/s, the maximum discharge recorded on July 16, 2005, was of 4,650 m3/s at Lungoci. The main cause of these events is the deforestation of the small watersheds located in the mountainous sector of the counties of Vrancea, Bacau and Neamt. The total surface affected by floods was of 58,323.936 hectares, of which: 34,142.349 ha (58.54%) arable land, 6,697.486 ha (11.48%) orchards and wine-growing plantations, 1,863.698 ha (3.20%) built areas, 2,866.313 ha (4.91%), forests 4,915.985 ha (8.43%), waters 2,081.047 ha (3.57%), and unproductive land 5,757.058 ha (9.87%). Besides the material losses (over 10,000 houses completely destroyed), 24 human deaths were recorded together with the loss of thousands of domestic animals, whose overall value exceeded two million Euros. The estimation of the extent of the flooding and its impact in the Siret River watershed has been performed using LANDSAT TM 2003 satellite images and the FAO-LCCS classification methodology, in the ASR-CRUTA remote sensing laboratory, with the images offered after activating the International CHARTER (Call ID-98).