The Vidraru Dam is 30 years beyond its normal term of use, and the interventions started last year were carried out in compliance with all legal provisions, declared on Monday in the Parliament plenary session, during "Government Hour," the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan.
"I think it's very easy to look for explanations after 35 years in which major interventions on extremely important systems throughout this country, from district heating to energy, to dams, should have been done long ago. The Vidraru Dam is 30 years past its normal term of use, and these interventions that were started last year were done in compliance with all legal provisions. I didn't come here to take the side of some or the other. I came to show with very clear documents when all this started, who did what, because it's easiest to point fingers when you don't really know what you're eating (...) In 2016, on June 22, Hidroelectrica legally begins the steps and informs Aquaterm about this situation. We have the first opinion on June 22, 2016 and the opinion of the City Hall. On July 14, ANAR addresses all this data confirming that all the legal conditions are met, to start the technical studies for the modernization of the Vidraru reservoir. In 2018, the opinion and construction permit, in 2019 Romsilva also comes with an opinion, obviously, taking into account the mollusks there and the preservation of the flora and fauna further," said Ivan.
According to the minister, the Forest Guard's opinion followed on November 20, 2019, the Aquaterm opinion on March 5, 2021, and on March 31, 2022, the opinion from the National Administration "Romanian Waters" (ANAR), with all related documentation.
"In 2025, the emptying program is approved, and starting in January 2025, at least seven technical meetings are held between all entities involved in this matter to validate the water volumes, preparation to avoid a shortage. From a practical point of view, following the agreements from all entities and three successive meetings that I convened, after the unfortunate incident in Paltinu, because I don't want the same thing to happen again, we ended up in a situation where all local authorities, together with Hidroelectrica, agreed to evacuate a much lower flow rate than that contained in the authorizations, namely from 60 cubic meters to 25 cubic meters per second. Meanwhile, another canal, the Oeşti canal, was taken over for natural settling and an additional volume of up to 5 million cubic meters of water was secured to ensure everything that means supplying domestic water downstream. (...) I think we should talk more about maturity. (...) Trying to use a political topic against someone just because they are from the PSD, without having an intrinsic connection to this topic, really seems to me to be a gross lack of maturity," stated Bogdan Ivan.
On February 9, 2026, a Ro-Alert message regarding the presence of the Clostridium perfringers bacteria in the water in the distribution network was transmitted in the Curtea de Arges area.
On Monday, February 16, the Public Health Directorate (DSP) announced that it had no longer identified bacteria in the water in the network serving the Municipality of Curtea de Arges and the neighboring communes, but the turbidity and concentrations of iron and chlorine remain above the permitted limits.
Water samples were taken on February 13 from several consumption points - Curtea de Arges City Hall, the Municipal Hospital and four educational institutions.
DSP Arges reminds that local authorities provide drinking water tanks to the population, and there are also two alternative public sources of drinking water - the Pod Progresul spring and the well in the courtyard of the Curtea de Arges Monastery. Also, the Municipal Hospital is still supplied with water brought by firefighters from Mioveni, as the supply from the public network has been interrupted.
The Arges County Emergency Committee (CJSU) decided, at the beginning of last week, to establish a state of alert for 30 days in the municipality of Curtea de Arges, after the detection of the Clostridium perfringers bacteria in the water from the distribution network.
The prefect of Arges County, Ioana Facaleata, stated at the time that a decision was also adopted by the Local Committee for Emergency Situations of the Curtea de Arges, through which the local authorities, following an assessment carried out together with an authorized company, drew up a plan for the safe resumption of the supply of drinking water and requested emergency funds from the Government for the necessary works and investments.
DSP Arges had previously announced that the presence of the bacterium Clostridium perfringers was detected in water samples collected on February 6 from three consumption points in the municipality of Curtea de Arges.
As a result of the increase in turbidity, in the context of controlled discharges from the Vidraru reservoir, the water supplied through the distribution network serving the municipality of Curtea de Arges and the communes of Valea Danului, Valea Iasului and Baiculesti, with a total population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants, is no longer drinkable since the beginning of November 2025.
The Aquaterm company reported, as early as November 10, 2025, that the turbidity of the raw water in the Oeşti canal, where the water intakes are located, was much higher than the filtration capacity of the Cerbureni Treatment Plant.
In recent months, Hidroelectrica has carried out a series of controlled discharges from the Vidraru reservoir on the Arges River, necessary to ensure the technical conditions for carrying out the renovation works of the hydropower facility.
The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, participates, on Monday, in the political debates "Government Hour" in Parliament, at the request of the USR parliamentary group. During the discussions, the presentation of the plan of concrete measures and actions that the relevant ministry, together with Hidroelectrica - responsible for the administration of the Vidraru hydropower development, has taken to prevent the emergence of a drinking water shortage crisis is requested.
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