Water Management Authority To Spend EUR40M On New Flood Hazard Maps

05.18.2011 By Bostan Radu

Romania's National Water Administration (ANAR) has accessed more than EUR40 million through 10 financing contracts for projects run on ten basins, as part of the "Plan for flood prevention, protection and reduction."

Flood hazard maps for the basins of the Cris rivers, the Banat area, Siret, Mures, Somes-Tisa, the Buzau area, Arges-Vedea, Dobrogea-Coast area, Olt and Jiu will be developed by mid-2012, says an ANAR press release. The maps will cover the main rivers and their tributaries, for a total length of 20,000 km.

The projects will use LIDAR (Light Intensity Detection and Ranging) technology to obtain a digital model of the river and adjacent area.

The new maps will improve on Romania's current hazard maps by also providing precise information on the flooded area's expansion, water speed and freshet depth.

Local authorities will use the hazard maps to develop risk maps, indicating the imminent level of damage and evacuation zones.

ANAR also plans to seek financing for 20 more projects called No Regret Measures, as well as a first part of the WATMAN project (which seeks to create an integrated water management system). The Administration's projects are worth an estimated EUR483 million (financed by the EU and state budget), but it has only EUR329 million at its disposal, ANAR general manager David Csaba says in the press release.