REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
AMELIORATION AND IRRIGATION
OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
WATER USERS ASSOCIATION DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT PROJECT
Environmental Assessment
Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan
16 December 2010
Water users association development support project
Environmental Assessment
Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Objective
1.3 World Bank safeguard policies
1.4 Methodology
1.5 Consultation process
2. Environmental policy, legal & Institutional Framework
2.1 Policy context
2.2 Legal/regulatory framework for environmental management/assessment
2.3 Involvement of Azerbaijan in international cooperation on environment
2.4 Institutional framework for environmental management and assessment
2.5 Environmental monitoring
2.6 Regional processes
3. Key Natural Parameters of Azerbaijan
3.1 Natural setting
4. Analysis of Baseline Conditions
4.1 Description of project
4.2 Analysis of project alternatives
4.3 Description of physical/biological environment
4.4 Description of socio-economic context
4.5 Description of stakeholders and beneficiaries
5. Assessment of Principal Environmental and Social Impacts and Proposed Preventive Actions and Mitigation Measures
5.1 Anticipated positive social and environmental impacts
5.2 Anticipated negative environmental and social impacts
6. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING PLAN
6.1 Objective of the EMMP
6.2 Environmental screening and review of sub-projects
6.3 Environmental monitoring program
6.4 Environmental capacity building and training program
6.5 Implementation arrangements
6.6 Implementation schedule
6.7 Proposed budget and funding sources for EMMP implementation
ANNEXES
ANNEX A – Public Consultations
ANNEX B – International and Regional Conventions
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ADCP Agricultural Development and Credit Project (World Bank)
AIOJSC Amelioration and Irrigation Open Joint Stock Company
ARN Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan
AZM Azerbaijani manat
BP Bank procedure (World Bank)
EA Environmental assessment
EIA Environmental impact assessment
EMMP Environmental management and monitoring plan
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FSU Former Soviet Union
GoA Government of Azerbaijan
GDP Gross domestic product
GP Good practice (World Bank)
IDP Internally displaced person
IDSMIP Irrigation Distribution System and Management Improvement Project
IUCN World Conservation Union
ISF Irrigation service fee
MMKC Main Mill Karabakh Collector
MMMC Main Mill Mugan Collector
MoA Ministry of Agriculture
MENR Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources
MoH Ministry of Health
NEAP National Environmental Action Plan
NGO Non-governmental organization
OP Operational policy (World Bank)
PE Evapotranspiration
PIU Project Implementation Unit
RIDIP Rehabilitation and Completion of Irrigation and Drainage Infrastructure Project
RSU Raion WUA Support Units
SAC Samur-Apsheron Canal
SSB State Supervisory Body
SSC State Statistical Committee
SSC Suspended sediment concentrations
SSL Suspended sediment loads
US$ United States dollars
WB World Bank
WSF WUA Support Fund
WUA Water users association
WUAP Water users association development support project
WWF World Wildlife Federation
ABBREVIATIONS
ha hectare
km kilometre
lcpd litres per capita per day
lps litres per second
msl mean sea level
Water users association development support project
Environmental Assessment
Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan
1. Introduction
This Environmental assessment (EA) and Environmental management and monitoring plan (EMMP) has been prepared for the proposed Water users association development support project (WUAP), to be co-financed by the Government of Azerbaijan (GoA) and the World Bank, in order to ensure that the project (i) incorporates sound environmental and social management principles and practices and (ii) fully complies with all GoA environmental requirements and with applicable World Bank environmental safeguard policies.
1.1 Background
The WUAP will be the World Bank’s third project in the irrigation and drainage sector in Azerbaijan and is a direct follow-up to the existing Irrigation Distribution System and Management Improvement Project (IDSMIP), which became effective in 2003 and is scheduled to close in September 2010. The objective of the IDSMIP was to improve irrigation water management by providing support to (i) development of Azerbaijan’s emerging water users’ associations (WUAs) and. the Amelioration and Irrigation Open Joint Stock Company (AIOJSC) and (ii) selective rehabilitation and improvement of associated on-farm irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The infrastructure improvements were made, for the most part, on a demand-driven basis on farms that met certain eligibility criteria within the eleven project area raions (i.e. Aghjabedi, Beylagan, Geranboy, Imishli, Khachmaz, Quba, Saatli, Sabirabad, and Zardab in Azerbaijan; Babek and Sharur in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan (ARN)). The project had three components: (1) Development of WUAs, (2) Irrigation and Drainage Infrastructure Rehabilitation, and (3) Project Management, which were implemented by a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under the AIOJSC.
As the positive results of the IDSMIP and the benefits to the rural economy and population became apparent, the GoA requested support from the World Bank for a larger‑scale follow‑up project. This proposed WUAP will build on the success of the IDSMIP and will have the same core components as the IDSMIP (i.e. WUA development and infrastructure rehabilitation), but it will extend the geographical coverage to an additional 16 raions (depending on project component), bringing the total to 27 raions covered by the project. Map 1 shows the 27 raions that comprise the project area for the WUAP. The on-farm irrigation and drainage infrastructure improvements will continue to be made on a demand-driven basis on farms that meet the eligibility criteria. A limited amount of off-farm infrastructure improvements will be undertaken as necessary to ensure effective delivery of water to the rehabilitated on-farm systems. The proposed project will be implemented by the same IDSMIP PIU under the AIOJSC. The PIU comprises a number of construction engineers who oversee the irrigation and drainage infrastructure improvements and includes an environmental specialist who oversees the environmental management plan and environmental monitoring programme established by the EA and EMMP for the IDSMIP. A more detailed description of the proposed project can be found below (see Section 4.1).
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Map 1. Project Raions
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1.2 Objective
The objective of this EA (Sections 1-5 of the document) is to identify the significant environmental and social impacts of the proposed project (both positive and negative) and to specify appropriate preventive actions and mitigation measures (including monitoring) to prevent, eliminate or minimise any anticipated adverse impacts. The EMMP (Section 6 of the document) is the mechanism that ensures that the environmental prevention and mitigation measures identified, the screening and review process proposed, and the capacity-building and monitoring activities recommended will be properly undertaken during implementation of the proposed project. The EMMP also establishes the necessary institutional arrangements and proposes an implementation schedule for undertaking these EMMP activities, indicating their costs in the proposed project budget.
This EA and EMMP build on the comprehensive EA and EMMP prepared for the IDSMIP, since the WUAP’s overall approach and basic project interventions will be the same. The EA has been updated, however, to reflect the particular environmental and socio-economic characteristics of the new project raions; the EMMP has been modified to reflect lessons learned during implementation of the IDSMIP.
1.3 World Bank safeguard policies
The World Bank’s Integrated Safeguard Data Sheet for the WUAP classified it as a Category “B” project (requiring partial assessment), triggering the Bank’s safeguard policies for environmental assessment, pest management, involuntary resettlement, projects on international waterways, and safety of dams. The EA confirmed the Category “B” designation for the proposed project, finding no significant, irreversible, cumulative or long-term adverse impacts. In fact, the EA identified a number of positive impacts of the proposed project and negative impacts that could be effectively prevented or reduced through application of appropriate preventive actions or mitigation measures (see discussion of impacts in Section 5.). The EA also confirmed the application of the five specified safeguard policies to the WUAP. Four of the five policies are discussed below; the policy on involuntary resettlement has been dealt with separately. The EA also reviewed application of the Bank’s safeguard policy for natural habitats to the project. The EA determined that the project, as currently proposed, does not trigger any of the remaining safeguard policies involving forests, physical cultural resources, indigenous peoples, or projects in disputed areas.
1.3.1 Environmental assessment (OP[1] 4.01, BP[2] 4.01, GP[3] 4.01). The anticipated environmental and social impacts of the irrigation and drainage rehabilitation component of the proposed project trigger this safeguard policy. Because the anticipated adverse impacts will not be significant or irreversible, however, and can be prevented or reduced through appropriate preventive actions or mitigation measures, the project is classified a Category “B” project and, as such, requires only partial assessment. This EA, with its EMMP ensuring that recommended preventive actions and mitigation measures will be taken, satisfies this Bank safeguard policy. Because the exact number and location of the specific rehabilitation sub-projects to be undertaken under the WUAP have yet to be determined, the EA is limited to identifying generic impacts for infrastructure rehabilitation in the project areas identified and specifying generic prevention and mitigation measures for these impacts. However, the EMMP includes environmental screening and review procedures similar to those required for financial intermediary operations that will ensure that appropriate preventive actions and mitigation measures are applied, by means of site-specific environmental management plans, to sub-project sites on a case-by-case basis (see Section 6).
1.3.2 Pest Management (OP 4.09, BP 4.09). Although the IDSMIP did not trigger this safeguard policy, the EA prepared for the IDSMIP recognized that the recovery of the agricultural sector in Azerbaijan was likely to increase pesticide use in the longer term. Because the agricultural recovery that will likely take place during the proposed project may induce an increase in the use of pesticides, the project triggers this safeguard policy. The IDSMIP relied on the Bank’s Agricultural Development and Credit Project (ADCP), with its one-day training courses and national information campaigns on pesticide application, to provide awareness raising and training on pesticide management and integrated pest management (IPM) for water users. The proposed project will continue to take advantage of the ADCP’s extension program until its closure in May 2011. But, more importantly, the project will develop and deliver its own training program on pesticide management and IPM under the WUA capacity building component.
1.3.3 Safety of Dams (OP 4.37, BP 4.37). The dams and headworks on the Samur, Kura, and Araz Rivers, which provide most of the water to the irrigation systems to be addressed in the proposed project, trigger this safeguard policy. The EA, however, does not address this policy; the Bank’s dam safety specialist will perform a separate dam safety assessment during project preparation in order to address this safeguard policy.
1.3.4 Projects on international waterways (OP 7.50, BP 7.50, GP 7.50). The Samur, Kura, and Araz Rivers, which supply most of the water to the irrigation systems to be rehabilitated in the proposed project, and the Caspian Sea, into which these rivers and project drainage systems eventually flow, are international waterways that trigger this safeguard policy. The proposed project, however, is not expected to have any significant impacts on the quantity or quality of water flowing through these rivers or into the Caspian Sea for two reasons. First, the project design is limited to the rehabilitation of existing irrigation schemes; no new irrigation schemes or extensions of schemes will be constructed. Second, the rehabilitation activities are expected to have minimal or no impact on the quantity or quality of water in (upstream or) downstream water bodies. The irrigation infrastructure improvements will not result in significant increases in either withdrawals from or discharges to the international waterways. And, based on water quality monitoring conducted during the IDSMIP, which indicated no significant adverse impacts from irrigation drainage in receiving water bodies, the project is not expected to result in significant impacts on the quality of water in these waterways. (The proposed project will discontinue the water quality monitoring performed at sites under the IDSMIP but will include similar water quality monitoring at new sites.) Therefore, the project is not expected to have any adverse effects on the water flows or the rights of the other riparian states on the international waterways, so the Bank will seek a waiver, as it did with the IDSMIP, pursuant to paragraph 7 (a) of OP 7.50 for this safeguard policy.
1.3.5 Natural Habitats (OP 4.04, BP 4.04). The EA determined that the project does not trigger the natural habitats safeguard policy. Planned project activities will take place on lands already converted to agricultural use by previous, non-Bank-related actions. As currently planned, the project will finance principally small-scale on-farm rehabilitation works, will not construct new irrigation systems and will not induce increased water abstraction. To ensure this, the EA proposes that all sub-projects be submitted to environmental screening, the criteria for which will cover natural habitat conversion, new irrigation system construction, and increased water withdrawal. The project will thus not involve “significant conversion or degradation of natural habitats” as defined in OP 4.04. The proposed project, however, includes a number of new raions in the mountainous region of northern Azerbaijan where there are national parks, protected forests and natural reserves (e.g. Qusar Preserve). These protected areas, which are typically on the high mountain slopes, are unlikely to be impacted by project interventions in the surrounding lowlands. To be sure, however, the project will ensure that rehabilitation of irrigation schemes that may result in a potential adverse impact will not be eligible for rehabilitation. The EA also requires the project to determine whether project sites in the new mountain raions will have potential impacts on rivers and their tributaries important for migratory fish populations and their spawning areas. Finally, the EA requires the project to conduct water quality monitoring at all new sites, including those in the new mountainous raions, and to assess potential impacts on the fish populations in the receiving waters.
1.4 Methodology
At the request of the GoA, the World Bank asked the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to send an environment officer to work with the PIU environmental specialist and a national environmental consultant to update the EA and the EMMP for the WUAP. This EA team began work on updating the EA and EMMP during the first environmental mission (04-15 May 2010) of the FAO environment officer. During this period, the national environmental consultant also began gathering the baseline information for the EA on the new project raions. The team visited various proposed project areas, viewed a number of irrigation and drainage sites, and met with local officials, WUAs, farmers and other beneficiaries of the proposed project. The team delivered a draft EA and EMMP to the PIU in July 2010. The PIU disclosed it to the public in August and held public consultations on it in Baku and Zardab between 20 and 25 August 2010. This final EA and EMMP, incorporating the comments received from the local consultations, the PIU, and the World Bank, was completed in September 2010.