Exceptional hydrological phenomena in the Gemenea catchment

Abstract

Flash floods, accompanied by high waters and regular floods, represent the most dangerous natural hazards in the Gemenea catchment, inducing other risks such as geomorphologic, environmental, social and economical risks. Flash floods occurred during the 1969 to 2014 monitoring interval are characterized by extremely high discharge values, of 68.9 m3/s in 2006 and 95.3 m3/s in 2008 and a magnitude 2.5 times higher than the average discharge recorded until that timeframe. With an area of 77.7 km2, the Gemenea catchment falls into the category of small catchments, where the peak discharge during exceptional hydrological phenomena is caused by torrential rainfall. Flash floods of particularly high intensities caused serious damages through: total destruction or damage of the torrent correction works, clogging of culverts on catchment forest roads, failure of river banks and deterioration of the bridges that affected roads and homes in Gemenea, Slătioara and Stulpicani villages. These floods have also caused damage to the forest/agriculture fund through deep and lateral erosion, failure of river banks and landslides. Within this study we aim to emphasize the magnitude, frequency, duration and area of manifestation of such phenomena in the Gemenea catchment. Furthermore, we aim to advance our knowledge of the genesis and specific mechanisms of flash flood occurrence for reducing their negative impacts on the local environment and communities