PROFESSOR DR. ION PIŞOTA (1925 – 2008)

Professor Ion Pişota was born on June 6, 1925, in Hrupiştea, a small settlement in Greek Macedonia, from where he and his family came to Romania in 1927, where he got Romanian citizenship. Between 1941 and 1945, he attended the Tulcea Boys High School and later on, in 1947 he entered the Faculty of Geology – Geography at the University of Bucharest, where he continued to excel until 1951, when he graduated. In the fall of 1950, he took up a tutor position in the field of Hydrolgy at the same faculty passing subsequently through all the stages of academic hierarchy until he became, in 1971, a University Professor. Even after he retired, in 1996, he continued his academic activity as a consultant professor within the same department and faculty that he served with passion and devotion for more than 50 years

THE IRON GATES RESERVOIR – ASPECTS CONCERNING HYDROLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND WATER

The paper makes a synthesis of the hydrological characteristics of the Iron Gates I reservoir and at the same time, it gives an account of its water quality state. A number of specific issues are revealed such as the feeding sources, level regime, water discharge, sediment load, and sedimentation processes. Likewise, the study highlights the alteration of the main hydrological parameters (levels, liquid and solid discharges) entailed by reservoir creation, by simply comparing the present day situation with that existing before the artificial lake came into being. The analysis of hydrological characteristics relies especially on the datasets provided by the “Romanian Waters” National Administration for the Baziaş, Orşova and Drobeta Turnu Severin gauging stations, which have different recording intervals for the period 1921 – 2006. At the same time, bibliographic sources have been taken into account in order to better understand the hydrological phenomena. As far as water quality is concerned, this has been established based on the quality indicators for the periods 2000 – 2004 and 2006 – 2009, which exist in the records of the National Water Monitoring System

RESEARCH AND VALORISATION HISTORY OF MINERAL WATERS IN BRAŞOV COUNTY

There are different types of mineral water in several settlements of Braşov County, such as Perşani, Rodbav, Homorod, Rupea, Codlea, Grid, Veneţia de Jos, Zizin, Tărlungeni, etc. This paper aims to briefly present a history of research and valorisation of mineral waters within the main settlements of Braşov County. It is based on relevant information extracted from pertinent scientific papers, archival research, interviews with local people and authorities, and field observations performed between 2010 and 2013. The paper highlights novel aspects with regard to the first mentions and descriptions of the county’s mineral waters, exploitation facilities and their current state

Recent trends in the low-flow variability in Romania

In the context of climate changes, knowing the low-flow trends is very important for establishing appropriate measures for water resources management, in order to ensure their sustainability. This paper focuses on Romanian rivers and aims to identify the recent trends (during the period 1980-2013) in the low-flow variability. The analysis is based on discharges data series (daily and monthly) recorded at 54 gauging stations, with a quasi-natural flow regime. The significance of trends for annual, monthly and seasonal low-flow in the analyzed period has been established using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test. The variability of the lowest annual values of the mean daily and monthly discharges showed positive trends at gauging stations located mainly in the Carpathian area, while negative trends were found in lowland regions (plains and tablelands). During the winter there were identified positive low-flow trends, while negative trends were found in summer and spring. Increases in the minimum monthly flow were particularly evident in February, March and December, and negative trends were identified especially in the summer (July, June and August) and the autumn months (September and October)

DEVELOPING SOFT MEASURES FOR FLOOD RISK MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION IN ROMANIA: PUBLIC INFORMING AND AWARENESS

This paper highlights, firstly, some general aspects concerning flood risk adaptation measures, especially those aiming public informing/education and awareness. Secondly, the paper is focused on Romania and presents: the legislative and action general framework on climate change adaptation and flood risk management; potential measures for flood risk mitigation and adaptation, with special focus on public informing/ communication and education actions; institutions and tools for public informing on flood risk in Romania. Finally, some examples of actions aiming flood risk informing/education and awareness at local scale (Tecuci City in Galaţi County, and the communes of Vulturu and Năneşti in Vrancea County) are presented

Characteristics and use of mineral waters and therapeutic mud from Grid village area (Braşov County)

This paper present some physicochemical characteristics of mineral waters and therapeutic mud in the Grid Village area, as well as aspects regarding their use. The study is based on the data collected from relevant bibliographic sources and field investigations and measurements carried out between 2012 - 2016. Chemically, the mineral waters from Grid Village area are chlorosodic (salinity 50 g/l), bicarbonated, and calcium-rich. The mineral salt deposit build-up on the soil stratum led to the formation of therapeutic mud, which has a compact granular structure with evenly distributed chemical elements (except for sodium and chlorine) and high concentrations in oxygen and silicon. At present, the use of mineral waters and therapeutic mud from Grid village area is underdeveloped and strictly local