Abstract:
In recent decades, due to the increase in the number of inhabitants worldwide, the extent of territory occupancy with buildings has increased greatly. Compared to population growth rate, the increase of waterproofed surface, that is, of the urbanization and of the infrastructure, has more than doubled. The most important cause that leads to soil damage and implicitly soil degradation is its waterproofing, when it is covered with a waterproof material such as concrete or asphalt. Given that in recent decades the built-up areas have increased uncontrollably, meaning that big surfaces in large urban areas have been waterproofed, the waterproofing of an increasing portion of soil occurs, which triggers the increase in the risk of floods especially during torrential rain. At present, Europe and all the more so Romania are affected by the uncontrolled growth of impermeable surfaces as a result of urbanization. Thus, some surfaces that were intended to draining rain water were transformed into impermeable areas. Also due to the expansion of cities, large areas of agricultural land have also been replaced with partially or totally waterproofed residential buildings. The water draining surface has diminished considerably, and the remaining surfaces cannot fulfill the same role, especially during short and high flow rain. The present paper will analyze and propose methods for reducing and mitigating runoff in urban areas.
