Water reserves in Romania decreasing at alarming rates, report shows

Romania is among the European countries where water reserves are decreasing at an alarming rate, according to an analysis carried out by researchers from University College London in collaboration with The Guardian and Watershed Investigations.

Scientists analyzed data from the period 2002–2024 provided by satellites that monitor changes in the Earth's gravitational field. Because water has a large mass, variations in groundwater levels, rivers, lakes, soil moisture, and glaciers appear in the detected signal, allowing satellites to effectively ‘weigh’ how much water is stored.

The findings show a pronounced imbalance: northern and northwestern Europe, especially Scandinavia, parts of the United Kingdom and Portugal, are becoming increasingly humid, while extended regions in the south and southeast, including areas in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, and Ukraine, are drying rapidly.

The researchers separated groundwater data from the total terrestrial water storage and found that it reflects the same tendency, confirming that a large part of Europe’s hidden freshwater reserves is in decline. Groundwater accounted for 62% of the total public water supply and 33% of agricultural water demands during 2022 across EU member states.

“When we compare the total terrestrial water storage data with climate datasets, the trends broadly correlate,” said Mohammad Shamsudduha, professor of water crisis and risk reduction at UCL. “We’re no longer talking about limiting warming to 1.5°C; we’re likely heading toward 2°C above preindustrial levels, and we’re now witnessing the consequences,” he added.

In response to this crisis, the European Commission developed a water resilience strategy to manage water as a resource.

The strategy aims to build a “water-smart economy” and is accompanied by a recommendation on water efficiency, calling for an improvement of “at least 10% by 2030.” Given that distribution network losses range between 8% and 57% in the EU, the Commission says that reducing leakage and modernizing infrastructure will be essential.

(Photo source: Ahmad Marzuky | Dreamstime.com)