FLOOD VULNERABILITY VS. STRUCTURAL MEASURES RELATED TO JIU VALLEY DEVELOPED WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATIVE LIMITS OF CRAIOVA CITY

Morosanu Ganriela Adina, Bucharest University, Faculty of Geography, Romania

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the extreme hydrological phenomena caused by Jiu River in Craiova City and the structural measures undertaken to reduce the probability of risk occurence. Craiova area overlaps a section of the middle basin of Jiu River between its confluence with Amaradia River and Preajba Swamps. Craiova was protected in time from floods and droughts, due to its settlement in the hydro-geomorfologic context. The only significant flood of October 1972, when two large districts in the southern parte of the city (Mofleni and Ciuperca) were covered by a layer of water between 1 and 2 meters, was not widely memorized by the inhabitants. Droughts, although, very often in the Romanian Plain, have avoided the Jiu River meadows and along the smaller rivers that cross the area of Craiova City they were slightly felt in comparison with rural areas of the county. Although rare, the waterborne risks phenomena occurring around Craiova generated only little damage, this river sector in which Craiova Cityis included, seen as a complex organism made up of natural resources, logistics, human, information, proved to be able to fight with such risks, after each event rarely happened, regaining its functional character, through good management of resilience and coping.
Processing quantitative data from Jiu Basin Administration, field observations and scientific literature, we analyzed the physical and geographical factors which determine the production of droughts and floods, as well as the possible hydrological events triggered by the improper hydraulic equipment along the river banks.