Effects of Deforestation on Flooding in the Moldova River Basin

Abstract

Given the correlation between deforestation and floods and the many negative consequences of these two factors, this paper aims to identify the areas vulnerable to the risks of flash flooding and the influence of deforestation on this phenomenon based on the flood recordings from 2005 to 2016 and the forest changes from 2000 to 2016. The high frequency of flooding events is affecting the economic development of the area, yearly almost half of the territorial-administrative units that overlap the area of the basin are hit by floods. The methodology was applied for the Moldova river basin, located in the northern part of Romania by computing the Flash Flood Potential Index (FFPI). The results are used to determine the flash flood potential and identify how the loss of forest affected the territorial-administrative units with the most frequent flooding events.

Keywords

• flash flood
• deforestation
• flash flood potential index (FFPI)
• hydrological modelling
• GIS