The Răut River has a length of 286 km and is fully encompassed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, as the largest tributary of the Dniester river and, at the same time, the largest river that springs and flows entirely on the territory of Moldova. The river starts from the spring from Rediul Mare village, Donduseni district, and it flows into the Dniester near the village of Ustia, Dubasari district.
The basin of the Răut River occupies a considerable part of the Dniester Plateau and the Central Moldavian Plateau. It is pear-shaped, with a length of about 190 km, average width of 41 km, maximum - 65 km (in the central part). The well-expressed water basins pass over the hills at an altitude of 230-388 m. The surface of the basin is plain, strongly dismantled by the thick valleys and ravines, which often have a canyon shape. The upper part of the basin, within the limits of the Northern Moldavian Plateau and of the Cubolta Plain, has an altitude of 150-250 m. The highest altitudes are on the Cula tributary, where they reach elevations of 250-300 m. At the base of the basin are sandy rocks, chalk, marble from the Cretaceous period, covered with a layer of calcareous and clay rocks of Tortonian origin. The tortonian cover is presented by loessoidal clays and clay.
For the most part, the basin is used as arable land, except for 3.2% of the area, covered by deciduous forests, predominantly oak and hornbeam. The swampy lands, which are found only in the riverbeds, occupy about 0.8% of the surface of the basin.
The hydrographic network is well developed by a detrital form, with an average density of 0.48 km / km⊃2;. Altogether in the basin there are 935 rivers with a total length of 3,720 km, most with a length of up to 10 km; 25 rivers with a length of 10-20 km, 6 rivers with a length of 31-40 km, 3 rivers with a length of 41-50 km, 5 rivers with a length of 51-100 km.
The largest tributaries of the upper and middle courses are the Copăceanca, Cubolta, Căinar, Camenca, Soloneț, Ciucul Mic rivers, and in the lower course (over the last 80 km) the river receives the waters of two significant tributaries - Cula and Cogâlnic. Among the smaller watercourses to mention the streams Bolata (Soroca ); Căinarca, Ramazani (Drochia, Florești); Teiul, Ciorna (Florești, Soldănești); Răuțel, Flămînda (Balti municipality); Culișoara (Ungheni, Sîngerei); Romazanca, Popornița (Rîșcani); Dobruşa (Săoldănești, Telenești); Valea Gogîlnicului, Filanda, Șegala, Cumparia (Rezina); Ciulucul Mijlociu and Ciulucul Mare, Chiua (Telenești); Iligacea, Chișcari, Roșiori, Jidani (Sîngerei); Drighinici, Moța, Vatici, Ivanos, Voloca (Orhei); Zdoroca (Criuleni).
In the Răut river basin there are practically no natural lakes, and the accumulation lakes occupy only 0.2% of its total area. Two accumulating lakes - Floresti, which are still in operation, and Căzănești, Telenesti rayon, whose dam is damaged, are built directly in the river Raut.
The dam of Căzănești accumulation lake was built in the middle of the XX century as a hydroelectric power station. Intensive clogging processes led to lake degradation. At present, the dams do not work and next to it was dug a drainage channel of water from the lake, through which the river flows. In the upper course, up to Putinești village, Florești district and in a series of places in the lower course of the river, the riverbed is completely covered with reed and reed vegetation, in the rest of the course the vegetation is only found on the banks.
In the river basin are built 1236 aquatic basins / ponds, of which 218 are currently dry; 31 units are private. The water from the accumulations of water is used especially for irrigation, in fish farming, for different technical needs, the watering of animals and partly for recreation. Water of the Răut river is not recommended for irrigation due to its mineralization and high hardness.
In the localities located under the basin of the Răut river, 832 springs are counted, 66 of which are dried. In the village of Gribova, the Drochia district all springs are dried. To a large extent, the springs have good quality water. The water is used for drinking, partly irrigation, animal shelter and other household necessities.
At 1 km downstream from Jeloboc village, Orhei district, at the foot of the left slope of the valley, there is a strong water source with a flow rate of about 45 l / s. The water comes out through the cracks in the Sarmatian limestone, being captured and pumped through pipes to supply drinking water to the population of Orhei and some localities around the city. The surplus of water flows directly into the Răut river.
The basin has 53305 mine wells, of which 564 are dried up. In Lunga village, the Florești district 60 mines are affected by kerosene. The water is used for drinking, household purposes, irrigation of gardens in the domestic sector, watering of domestic animals.
On Răut river are located cities Balti, Floresti and Orhei, with a wide range of economic activities, which consequently condition the state and quality of the river water.
The Răut river basin covers an area of over 702423 ha. In the hydrographic space of the Răut river are localities in 18 territorial-administrative units (town halls), including: a town hall located in Ocnita (Lipnic) district; 21 mayorships - Donduseni district; 28 mayorships - Drochia district; 29 mayorships - Floresti district; 11 mayorships - Râșcani district; 6 mayorships - Falesti district; a mayorship (Fundurii Vechi) - Glodeni district; a mayorships (Măgurele) - the district of Ungheni; 16 mayorships - Soroca district; 6 mayorships - Soldanesti rayon; 12 mayorships - Rezina district; 26 mayorships - the district of Sangerei; 31 mayorships - Telenesti district; 6 mayorships - Calarasi rayon; 31 mayorships - Orhei district; 4 mayorships - Criuleni district, a mayorships (Ustia) - Dubasari district and Balti municipality. In total, the Răut river basin comprises 232 mayorships of 412 localities, which has a population of 746 921 inhabitants and includes 228900 households.
In the mentioned localities, 1939 social/public institutions operate, carrying out about 2220 peasant households and over 20 thousand economic agents in agriculture, trade and services.