Methodology for Identification of Lakes Destined for Liquidation in the Republic of Moldova

In the RM more than 6000 ponds and reservoirs have been built. The lifespan of them is usually 40-50 years. Considering that most of them were built in the years 1960-1980, many of them have an expired exploitation period and the others are at the limit of the exploitation period. Estimates show that, due to siltation the volume of reservoirs have decreased by an average of 0,50% per year. In result the ecological flow for the rivers, in special for the small rivers is critical. The purpose is to define the Criteria and a repeatable Methodology for lake liquidation and strengthening the capacities of the Moldovan Institutions to achieve a better management of the water and sanitation of the key stakeholders, improving their performance in implementing water and sanitation services in a sustainable, efficient and equitable manner. Based on the knowledge of the territory of the whole Republic of Moldova the following list of Criteria is used: lake size; safety condition; socio-economic development; ecology and environment. The methodology is mainly based expert judgment on GIS modelling involving geoprocessing of some specific parameters criterion by criterion. A Multi-Criteria Analysis is used to transform in “accumulated scores” the assessment done for each criterion in order to identified the possible lake to be liquidated.