1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Iaşi (FUA)
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Regularizare Rau Bahlui in Municipiul Iasi
Short description of the intervention
The Bahlui river was prone to floods especially during spring and autumn and as a result of the fact that for almost 40 years there has been no work for the decolouration and sanitation of the river and the industrial enterprises in the county have discharged polluting substances in water (mainly nitrogen and phosphates), Bahlu River has become a polluted river. In addition, some citizens of Iaşi have discarded waste in its bed (especially in peripheral areas). In 2011, a larger project funded by the EU, implemented the regularization of the river. (1)
Address

Podu Iloaiei,
707365 Iasi
Romania

Total area
11000000.00m²
NBS area
11000000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
Blue area
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
End date of the intervention
2013
Present stage of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
1. Restoration in public open spaces offers free, accessible and safe recreation for children and adults;
2. Flood and sanitary conditions control;
3. Provide opportunities for recreation as part of daily life allowing stress relief and enjoyment as well as activities such as fishing, cycling and watching wildlife;
4. Provide huge learning potential about our natural world helping to demonstrate how humankind depends on water and the need to reduce our collective impact on the environment;
5. Allows the ecosystem to recover and recreate a new life cycle;
6. Offers clean, unpolluted water;
7. Improves the aesthetics of the city;
8. Regularizes the ecosystem of the area (1,2).
Quantitative targets
1. Decolmation of the bed on the 11 km of the Bahlui river from the Iasi district (1)
2. Making a defense dike on the right bank (3,83 km long) (1)
3. Ensuring a minimum standard of protection of the city of Iasi of 1%; (3)
4. Protecting from floods 14.000 inhabitants, 5000 homes, 3000 businesses (3)
Monitoring indicators defined
1. Number of citizens and buildings affected by floods
2. Green area affected by unsanitary deposits
3. Varieties of fish and insects, flora and fauna affected by the insanitary conditions (1,3)
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Implementation activities
Decolouration and reprofilation of the bed, the construction of a protective dike and a protective wall, concrete and stabilization of the bed and the construction of concrete parapets.
Stabilizing the banks, making monolithic reinforced concrete in the minor bed (2,3)
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Amenities offered by the NBS
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Water purification / filtration
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Recreation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Governance
Governance arrangements
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
This NBS was proposed by a regional agency that overseas the nature of rivers in several counties, including Iasi. On November 4, 2010, at the Prefecture of Iaşi County, the National Administration "Apele Române", through the Prut-Barlad Water Basin Administration and SC DIMAR SRL (the company that won the tender) signed a contract for the design and execution of the landscaping works And regularization of the Bahlui River (2)
Key actors - initiating organization
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
EU body
National government
Regional government
Local government/municipality
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
This NBS is in connection to the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and of the Floods Directive 2007/60/EC (1)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
This NBS is in connection to Water Law 107/1996 amended and completed by the Law 310/2004, Law 112/2006, OUG 3/2010, Law 146/2010 at a national level (1)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
This NBS was achieved under the umbrella of the National Administration "Apele Romane" which has a regional directorate which includes 4 counties (one of them Iasi) and which collaborate since the major rivers that trespass them are located on their territories (1)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The intervention is benefiting from financing from the European Union through the Sectoral Operational Program "Environment" 2007-2013, within the PRIORITY AXIS 5 - "Implementation of the appropriate natural risk prevention structure in the areas most at risk", Key area of ​​intervention 1 - Flood protection ". (1)
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Financing
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
31.642.876,38 lei - roughly 7 mil Euro
Source(s) of funding
Non-financial contribution
No
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
This is a technological innovation from a process point of view since the river has not be regularized in 40 years. The innovation consists in the methods used (2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Description of environmental benefits
The evaluation report concluded that the NBS had the following environmental impacts:
-it improved the waste management problems in the area by a progressive reduction of pollution from priority substances and ceasing out of discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances and progressive reduction of groundwater pollution and further;
-It prevented further deterioration and reaching and maintaining of good status of aquatic ecosystems (4);
-It also increased access to the blue area by cleaning of the river (1,2);
-It prevented flooding in certain parts of the city by building a dig (4).
Economic impacts
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Description of social and cultural benefits
Unknown
Type of reported impacts
Indicators
The monitoring report mentions indicators such as the height and length of the dikes on the river and for Iasi we have the following numbers:
Decolorization of the minor bed L = 11 000 m; Reprofilation of the minor bed L = 6 130 m; Monolithic reinforced concrete plating in the small bed L = 2500 m; The minor bed Stabilization of the minor bed with gabons L = 2 350 m; New defense digger L = 3,830 m; Rehabilitation of guardrails L = 2 500 m; Economic Indicators: Rehabilitation of guardrails L = 2 500 m; Overgrazing existing dams L = 2 970 m (3)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of August 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
No
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
No
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Documents relevant to the intervention
List of references
1. Administrația Bazinală de Apă Prut-Bârlad, Lucrări pentru reducerea riscului la inundații în bazinul hidrografic Prut-Bârlad, Regularizarea râului Bahlui în municipiul Iași, Available at http://www.riscinundatii.ro/home/ (Accessed 23-8-2020)

2. Ziarul de Iasi (2014), Lucrările împotriva inundaţiile de pe Bahlui, terminate cu şapte luni în avans, Ziarul de Iasi, Available at http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/stiri/lucrarile-impotriva-inundatiile-de-pe-bahlui-terminate-cu-sapte-luni-in-avans-foto--83009.html (Accessed 23-8-2020)

3. Asociatia Bazinala de Apa Prut-Barlad, Studiul de Fezabilitate pentru Managementul Riscului la Inundatii in Spatiul Hidrografic Prut-Barlad, Available at http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:SN1kZ0B0LEsJ:www.rowater.ro/daprut/Documente/Proiect%2520regularizare%2520Bahlui.pdf+&cd=2&hl=ro&ct=clnk&gl=hu (Accessed 23-8-2020)

4. National Administration "Apele Romane", Implementation of the water Directives Implementation of the water Directives

in Romania in Romania, Available at http://www.inbo-news.org/IMG/pdf/Workshop_WWF7Europe_Process_Theme_2-_EU_Water_Directives_Pres_Mrs-_TUCHIU.pdf (Accessed 23-8-2020)

5. Ziarul de Iasi (2004), Faceti ceva cu Bahluiul, Available at http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/local/iasi/faceti-ceva-cu-bahluiul~ni3cmd (Accessed 23-8-2020)
Comments and notes
Additional insights
In 2004, according to analyzes carried out by the Ape Prut Directorate, Bahlui was classified as the fourth pollution class - out of five existing water being used only in agriculture and fish farming (5)
Public Images
Image
Works at the river
The river during the implementation
https://www.dimar.ro/portfolio/regularizare-rau-bahlui-municipiul-iasi/
Image
View of the river during intervention
View of the river during the NBS
https://www.dimar.ro/portfolio/regularizare-rau-bahlui-municipiul-iasi/
Image
The river at the end of the NBS
View of the intervention - end phase
https://www.dimar.ro/portfolio/regularizare-rau-bahlui-municipiul-iasi/