Resumen
Accurately determining the maximum designed water discharges of dams is extremely important, considering the economic costs of carrying out these types of hydrotechnical works and the possible disastrous consequences resulting from their incorrect design. This article describes and applies probability distributions used in hydrology, with some recommended by Romanian legislation standard NP 129-2011. The methods for estimating the parameters presented in this article, as well as the establishment of directions for correlating the normative with international regulations, resulting from the research on many rivers with different characteristics, conducted within the Faculty of Hydrotechnics, were completed with specialized computer applications for applying the normative. In this article, two case studies reflecting this research are presented. The verification of the proposed recommendations, on rivers with hydrographic basins with different physiographic characteristics, confirmed the opportunity to implement rigorous and simple criteria. The presentation of the quantile form of some distributions (especially Pearson III) and of the expressions of moments (central and raw) of high order, as well as the presentation of the frequency factors of each analyzed distribution necessary to calculate the confidence interval, constitute novelties, thus facilitating the ease of use of these distributions.