Inflows way lower than outflows at Prut and Nistru dams

The inflows into impoundment lakes on Moldova's largest rivers, Nistru and Prut, are way lower than the outflows. However, the water agency Apele Moldovei assures that a security regime is in place and no problems with water supply should arise. On the Prut, the inflow into the impoundment lake of the Costesti-Stinca Dam is 20 cubic meters per second, whereas the outflow is 79 cubic meters. “We are maintaining an outflow level which enables us to supply water for both drinking and irrigation purposes”, Ion Cucenic, department head at Apele Moldovei, told Info-Prim Neo. On the Nistru, too, a proper outflow level is maintained. For example, says Ion Cucenic, at the Novodnestrovsk Dam the inflow is 90 cubic meters per second, as compared to a discharge of 140 cubic meters, which is fed by reserve water impounded earlier. “We have no data to show that water levels in these rivers have fallen, but I can tell you that we are maintaining dam inflows at the levels they were 5 or 10 days ago. However, it is very likely that their levels have decreased slightly, because their tributaries, such as the Raut or the Cubolta, are now experiencing a significant drop in water levels”, said Ion Cuciuc. He went on to add that the rains falling in Moldova do not greatly affect water levels in the Prut and the Nistru; however we should fear heavy rainfalls upstream in the Ukrainian Carpathians.