The drinking water is supplied into the pipes from a network of local artesian wells (which are insufficient) and from the river Nistru (Dnister) by a 60 km long pipeline connecting Bălți to Soroca (which is not economically feasible).
The grapegrowing and wine-making in the area between the Nistru and Prut rivers, which began 4000–5000 years ago, had periods of rises and falls but has survived through all the changing social and economic conditions.
Shipping is possible on the lower Prut and Nistru rivers, but water transportation plays only a modest role in the country's transportation system.