Submission Institution
The National Administration “Romanian Waters” administers the goods in the public domain of the state of the nature of those provided by art. 136 para. 3 of the Romanian Constitution, republished, the public property assets provided by Law no. 213/1998 regarding public property and its legal regime, with subsequent amendments and additions, as well as own patrimony.
The National Administration “Romanian Waters” administers the waters in the public domain of the state and the infrastructure of the National Water Management System consisting of reservoirs, flood defense dikes, canals, inter-basin derivations, water intakes and other specific works, as well as the infrastructure of the systems national hydrological, hydrogeological surveillance and monitoring of the quality of water resources in its heritage, for the purpose of knowledge and unitary management throughout the country, of surface and underground water resources.
Principles and values
Taken from European practice, the National Administration “Romanian Waters” guides its activity according to the following European principles:
The principle of sustainable, unitary and rational use of water represents increasing the role of water resources in maintaining the dynamics of ecological balance, the need to integrate quality and quantity conditions of water resources with aquatic ecosystems.
The concept “More space for rivers” includes principles such as: “let rivers flow unstrained!”, “water is part of a whole”, “accumulate water!”. This principle argues for the need to restore rivers to what we “took them away” – floodplains – in order for them to properly drain floods. The new concept “More space for rivers” offers:
- new spaces for flood mitigation;
- New spaces for nature.
The concept of “living with floods” means being aware of flood risk. The issue here is that of the degree of protection possible and the costs involved in achieving this degree of protection, namely how great the risk accepted by society is, and the need for all those who might suffer from floods to complete general measures by taking their own precautions.
The principle of public participation in decision-making (solidarity) ensures the link between authorities and the public. Such a body is the Basin Committee organized at the level of each river basin, consisting of representatives of: local public administration, water users, non-governmental organizations and institutions with responsibilities in this line.
The economic mechanism includes the system of contributions, payments, bonuses, tariffs and penalties as part of the financing of the field. This mechanism is based on the principles of cost recovery for knowledge and management of water resources: ‘polluter pays’ and ‘beneficiary pays’. The National Administration “Romanian Waters” applies the system of contributions, payments, bonuses, tariffs and specific penalties for water resources management, to all water users, regardless of the holders of any title of the facilities and installations.