MIKE SHE and MIKE 11 are now contributing to the management of one of Romanias’ most important rivers, Mureş. DHI is partner in a research project which, among other things, helps the Romanian authorities adapt to climate changes. The method of the project is supposed to be used in the rest of the catchments in the country.
The project is financed by the Norwegian fund “EEA and Norway Grants” with a budget about 1.5 Mil. EUR.
Water scarcity in Romania
One reason why Romania takes big interest in the project is the water scarcity in the country. In particular water is used for agriculture, but
also for power production and, of course, for drinking water.
The Mureş River, in the North of Romania, is a tributary to the Danube and is one of the three most important rivers in the country in terms of quantity of water. Its’ approximate length is 761 km.
The lack of water is causing problems today and the concern is whether the climate changes will aggravate the situation. The project is therefore forecasting the future conditions implicating different climate scenarios to observe how the water resources will be in eg. twenty years and to consider how to manage the water resources under new climate conditions.
Forecast of future conditions
The purpose of the research project is to optimize the current use of the water resources and to estimate the future situation considering the climate changes.
The project studies the water resources in the Mureş River Basin which is situated on elevated grounds. The link between the surface water and the ground water there is very strong; the ground water plays therefore a central part in the project.
DHI Czech Republic is working on the modelling of the groundwater with special focus on climate adaptation. Meanwhile DHI Norway is working on the modelling of the surface water.
From collection of data to research dissemination
The first phase of the project is collection of the data and then follows the modelling of ground water and of the river. This will be carried out by means of MIKE SHE and MIKE 11. DHI will subsequently deliver the software packages to the local partners and do the training of the local water authorities to use the models. Finally the results are disseminated through various workshops, conferences and folders.
The work has been going on since June this year, and staff from DHI Czech Republic and DHI Norway has made a field trip to the catchment to become familiar with it.
Two Romanian and two foreign partners
Two Romanian and two foreign partners are cooperating on the project. From Romania The National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management (NIHWM) and the local River Basin Authority are participating. Besides DHI The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) take part in the project. One of the reasons why NVE is involved is because of their experience with snow melt and cold climate hydrology.
MIKE SHE and MIKE 11
The research project is using the DHI software MIKE SHE and MIKE 11.
MIKE SHE is an integrated modeling framework for simulating all components of the land-phase of hydrologic cycle. That is, with MIKE SHE you can simulate evapotranspiration, overland runoff, channel flow, unsaturated infiltration, and saturated groundwater flow – including the interactions between all these processes.
MIKE 11 is an industry standard for simulating flow and water level, water quality and sediment transport in rivers, flood plains, irrigation canals, reservoirs and other inland water bodies.