Tanzania - Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project : environmental assessment (Vol. 1 of 4) : Summary

E492 Vol. 1 THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA MINISTRY OF WATER AND LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROJECT (RWSSP) SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (a) The Project The proposed Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) Project is the initiative by the Government of Tanzania (GOT) to promote development of sustainable, safe and affordable water supply in the rural areas through community participation. The project emphasizes demand responsive and participatory approach in service delivery through involvement of the rural people the design, planning, construction as well as operation & maintenance of water supply & sanitation schemes. Specifically, the objective of the project is to improve the existing water supply & sanitation schemes through rehabilitation and whenever necessary construction of the new ones. To achieve sustainability of water supply schemes the project will focus on improving the environment, sanitation & hygiene conditions through education & awareness creation. During implementation, attention will also be given to HIV/AIDS prevention among the rural communities in the project areas. Finally, the project will also support capacity building in the planning and management of district water & sanitation programmes within the broader context of the ongoing Local Government Decentralization reforms, and the rural development agenda of the Government of Tanzania (GOT). So far a number of studies has been carried out as one of the major steps towards project implementation. One of those studies include the Environmental Assessment (EA) study in three pilot districts of Kilosa (Morogoro Region), Rufiji (Coast Region) and Mpwapwa (Dodoma Region). 1ILE COP  (b) The rationale for EA Study The rationale for carrying out EA is to ensure that environmental concerns are incorporated in the project design, and that the local communities become aware of environmental issues related to the project. Ultimately the intention is make sure that the local communities could operate & maintain their water supply & sanitation schemes in environmentally sound and sustainable manner. The GOT and the World Bank consider EA as an important tool/instrument for facilitating decision-making process and to ensure that development projects are environmentally sound and sustainable. However, because the project has not yet identified specific sites for implementation the assessment could not be strictly done according to the existing TanzaniaNVorld Bank procedures. Instead the study followed a more general approach that incorporates an overall assessment of programme interventions. In this study the consultant employed a number of methods, such as reviewing various documents/reports, conducting informal & formal interviews, group discussions and physical observation. Extensive use of focus group assessment, discussions and consultation with village committees, district council officials and relevant government agencies also provided opportunities to identify the concerns of various stakeholders. (c) Scope of the Study The important issues of major concern in this study are shown in the terms of reference (ToR) attached to EA reports for the three districts. The consultant's task in this was to describe the relevant policies, legislation & regulatory framework pertaining to environment and water resource management. The task also involved assessment of the existing institutional capability for handling EA requirements in Tanzania. In addition, the consultant was also required to identify negative environmental impacts and propose appropriate mitigation measures. Finally, the study was supposed to come out with an EA checklist and checklist of monitoring indicators that could be used as a guideline for conducting EA of RWSS project. Detail findings from this study are found in the main reports for the three districts. (d) Potential Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Generally the project is not expected to create major negative impacts to the human and natural environment. Instead the project is expected to be beneficial to the rural communities since it is aimed at improving their living standards. The positive impacts expected from the project include: 2  * Increased income to local food vendors; especially women by selling food to the construction workforce. * Improved health condition to the rural community due to accessibility to clean and safe water supply. * Temporary employment opportunity to the local people; especially youth and women during construction. * Improved sanitary condition and, hence decreased incidence of water borne diseases. * Improved skills in 0 & M of water supply schemes and financial managerial and administrative skills to the community leaders due to training package. * Improved environmental condition in the rural community due to created awareness and training in environmental conservation activities, including tree planting, application of environmentally sound technologies (e.g. use of alternative construction materials). Potential environmental impacts of major concern to this project are associated with construction works, community activities and water resource uses. Those impacts together with their mitigation measures are summarized in the Table. (e) Provisions for Environmental Safeguards In this project training a program has been proposed as a means of capacity building at district and community levels. This is to ensure that the local communities can handle environmental issues related to water resource utilization. The implementation of the training program will require extensive dialogue between the Ministry of Water & Livestock Development and National Environment Management Council (NEMC). These two organizations will also agree on how to institute periodic spot checks (environmental audits) to ascertain the level of compliance with the proposed mitigation measures. Another provisions for environmental safeguards includes incorporation of community proposal and sub-project appraisal guidelines templates with a section on environmental concerns in the Project Operational Manual. The templates will be used in training the Partner Organisations (POs), Community extension agents (CEAs), etc. In general extension support services will be incorporated into ToR of POs with specific actions for health and environmental education, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention. POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND THEIR MITIGATION MEASURES 3  POTENTIAL IMPACTS MITIGATION MEASURES (a) Construction impacts Destruction of vegetation leading into soil Confine activities on-site. erosion because of access roads creation during transportation of drilling rigs and other Use labor-intensive technology. equipment to well sites and/or pipelines Land restoration and re-planting trees. construction. Dumping of drilling wastes and construction Removal & proper disposal of all construction spoils and spoils. other solid wastes. Loss of crops and agricultural land due to Consultation with community representatives when crossing pipelines route or well construction. locating pipeline route or well/borehole sites. Avoid damage to private property but compensation should be paid whenever necessary. Water pollution from pit latrines due to bore Locate the wells at reasonable distance from pit latrines hole/shallow wells being too close to human (at least 50-m). settlements. Fence off boreholes or shallow well sites to prevent encroachment by people due to settlement expansion. The area should be declared protected under village by- laws. Occupational health & safety of workers Contractor should be responsible for health & safety of during construction. workers. Only trained personnel should be allowed to operate equipment on-site. There should be a qualified person to administer first aide on-site. Increased incidence of STD & HIV/AIDS due Awareness & education campaigns on STD and HIV. to construction workforce in the village. Locate the construction camp far away from village settlement. Limit number of workforce to technical & skilled labor only. The rest of workforce should come from the rural communities. B. Community Impacts Bush fires & tree felling by local community Enforce by-laws to discourage bush fires around water around water sources and upper catchments. sources and catchments. Promote the use of alternative construction materials and energy sources to minimize deforestation. Initiate environmental education and awareness campaigns. Encroachment to well sites and open water Fencing off and demarcating boundaries of well sources due to expansion of human site/boreholes. settlement and farmlands. Well/borehole sites should be declared protected area under village by-laws. 4  POTENTIAL IMPACTS MITIGATION MEASURES Pollution of open water sources due to human Treat water in storage tanks and/or reservoirs by activities and trampling by chlorination, especially in small towns. Livestock. People should be educated and encouraged to boil drinking water. Promote use of pit latrines among the local communities. Damage to pipelines by local people during Declare right of way (RoW) and enact by-laws to prevent cultivation and planting crops with deep people from cultivating along pipeline route. rooting systems along pipeline route. Pipelines should be submerged below the ground to an appropriate depth. Spontaneous growth of algae and other Proper design for water storage tanks and /or reservoirs. waterweeds in open storage tanks or reservoirs due to temperature and exposure to sunlight. Periodic cleaning of water storage tanks and/or reservoirs. C. Water use Impacts Accumulation of wastewater around well sites Prevent people from washing or bathing close to well or standpipes due to people washing or sites or standpipes though enactment of by-laws. bathing close to the water sources, hence into Construct standard concrete pads for standpipes and/or potential breeding sites for mosquitoes. hand pump shallow wells drainage channel to carry spilled water into soak-ways. Over-extraction of groundwater leading into Amount of water extracted for domestic purpose is not land instability and hydrological imbalance. expected to cause significant impacts. However, a precaution may be taken by limiting the number of wells or boreholes per unit area. Periodic monitoring of ground water levels should be instituted. Contamination of water in Ring Wells due to Ring Wells should be designed and constructed by poor water handling and use of dirty raising them at least one meter (1-m) above the ground containers by local people during fetching to prevent surface run-off from entering the Well. water or through surface run-off entering the Well during rainfalls. Boiling of drinking water should be promoted through hygiene education People should be encouraged to use only appropriate containers for drawing water from Wells. The containers should be kept in safe and clean place.