The present research is dedicated to assessment of flood runoff
of the Căinari river situated in the northern part of the Republic of Moldova.
A special attention is paid to evaluation of flood runoff temporal and spatial
distribution and its changes due to different factors. Direct and indirect
methods were used in order to perform the research tasks. General and
statistical analysis was applied to estimate temporal evolution, trends, cycle
fluctuations and to calculate statistical parameters and values of different
return period of the Căinari river flood runoff characteristics measured at
Sevirova station (1954-present). Spatial distribution of flood runoff and its
changes due to land use management activities from the last 3 decades was
performed using SCS-CN model. Analysis of temporal dynamics shows that in
the last 60 years the trend of peak discharges is decreasing while the one of
flood runoff depth is slowly increasing. Main flood runoff characteristics are:
average peak discharge - 16.3 m3
/s, depth - 4.41 mm, volume - 3.6 mln. m3
,
total duration - 9.0 days. Flood events monthly distribution is as follows: June
– 34 %, July – 25 %, May – 14 %. Flood runoff modeling was performed for
ungauged tributaries of the Căinari river in condition of equal rainfall of 100
mm, land cover for 1982 and 2013 and 3 soil moisture conditions: dry, wet
and average. Average modeled flood runoff values are 58 mm, 28 mm in case
of dry soil and 84 in case of wet soils. General dynamics shows that for the
last 3 decades the flood runoff has slightly decreased due to increasing
grassland and orchards areas and decreasing share of arable land.
Keywords:
flood runoff, the Căinari river, land cover impact.