Assessing the physical quality of the Coșuștea river using the Qualphy method.

Abstract

In the context of Water Framework Directive requirements, stressing the importance of the hydro-morphology in river quality assessment and restoration, this paper aims to evaluate the physical quality of Coșuștea River (located in southwestern Romania) by using the Qualphy method (developed by the Rhin - Meuse Water Management Agency, France, 1992). The quality specific indices for the Qualphy method were calculated for three sections (Nadanova, Şişeşti, and Corcova). The information resulted from the field measurements and observations was processed with the Qualphy software, revealing, for each of the selected sections, the hydrological, geomorphological and ecological status for the three specific Qualphy sub-indices (corresponding to the riverbed, riverbanks and floodplain) and finally, the Global Qualphy Index (GQI) was calculated for each section. The GQI for the three analyzed sectors (60 % at Corcova, 70% at Şişeşti and 74% at Nadanova) showed that the physical quality of the Coșuștea River belongs to fairly good quality class, excepting Corcova section, where the GQI indicates a moderate to good quality state. The Qualphy index for the riverbed, at Corcova and Șișești, showed fairly good quality, while at Nadanova, the quality is moderate to good. For the riverbanks, the Qualphy index indicated a moderate to good quality at all the analyzed sections. Regarding the Qualphy index for the floodplain, its values showed a moderate to good quality at Corcova and a very good quality at Șișești and Nadanova.

Keywords

• Coșuștea River
• floodplain
• Qualphy method
• riverbank