China - Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change into Water Resources Management and Rural Development Project : environmental assessment (Vol. 6 of 6) : Environment report for Anhui Province

E1705 v 6  China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences January 2005  1.1. Purpose and Contents of Report............................................................................... 4 1.2. Background................................................................................................................... 4 2.1. Environmental Issues of IAIL2 Project .................................................................. 5 2.2. Assessment ofActual Environmental Impacts of IAIL2 Project ......................6 2.3. Summary Conclusions of IAIL2 Environmental ImpactsAssessment............9 2.4. Recommendations for Improvement of IAIL3 Environmental Management.9 3. COMPARISON ENVIRONMENTALCONDITIONS OF AND ENVIRONMENTALIMPACTS BETWEENIAIL3AND IAIL2 ............................................................................................10 3.1. Comparison of Project Counties (Cities).............................................................. 10 3.2. Comparison of Environmental Conditions........................................................... 14 3.3. Comparison of Project Contents ............................................................................ 15 3.4. Main Conclusions...................................................................................................... 17  1 Introduction 1.1. Purpose and Contents of Report This Environment Report (the Report) for Anhui Province is prepared for the appraisal of the proposed World Bank loan-financed Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Project I11 (IAIL3, the Project). The World Bank preparation mission of November 2004 proposed that the environment category of the Project remains to be type B due to the similaritiesbetween the Project and IAIL2 in terms of project areas and basic contents. In order to simplify procedures the Bank no longer requires to review a full environmental assessmentreport for the Project, but requires to 1)assess the actual environmentalimpacts of the IAIL2 Project; 2) compare the environmental conditions of IAIL3 and IAIL2; and 3) prepare environmental management plan by Project provinces. In compliance with the above requirements the main contents of the Report include: 1) Overview of the actual environmental impact assessment of the TAIL2 Project Anhui Component; 2) Comparison of environmental conditions and contents between IAIL3 and IAIL2 in Anhui; 3) Clarification on the preparation of EnvironmentalManagement Plan for MIL3 in Anhui; 4) Anhui Project Area Environmental ManagementPlan (attached to the Report). 1.2. Background Since 1998the IAIL2 Project had been implemented in 21 cities (districts) of Anhui's four municipalities, including Hefei, Chaohu, Liu'an and Anqing. Project implementation was completed as scheduled in end 2002. Project implementation has improved local agricultural productive conditions, promoted agricultural restructuring, increased farmers' income and improved the level of agricultural technologies, thus achieving remarkable economic, social and ecological benefits. To this end, the State Office for ComprehensiveAgricultural Development (SOCAD)has decided to continue to implementthe MIL3 Project in the above five provinces.  Entrustedby SOCAD the China Research Academy of Environmental Scienceshas undertaken to conduct environmentalimpact assessment (EM) for the Project and prepared the Report accordingto the requirements of the Bank preparation mission. 2. Overall Assessment of Environmental Impacts of IAIL2 Project In June 2004 SOCAD prepared the "EnvironmentalManagement Reportfor theIrrigated Agriculture IntenszJication Project 11" to be as one of the IAIL2 ICR supporting documents (ReferenceDocument 1).The report summarizesand evaluatesthe environmentalmanagement work, status of implementationof relevant environmental covenants in the Loan Agreement and the actual environmentalimpacts followingproject implementation.The Report only outlines the actual environmental impacts of IAIL2. 2.1. Environmental Issues of IAIL2 Project The main objectives of the project were to increase agriculturalproduction and farmers' income through improvement and rehabilitationof the existing irrigation facilitiesin the project areas. Main project componentsinclude canal lining, constructingon-farm works, rehabilitating existing and building new pumping stations and tube wells, land leveling, improving field passageways and building field drainage network and windbreak shelter belts. The project does not involve the construction of new reservoirs and new main and branch canals. In March 1997the Bank preparation mission rated the project as Category B in terms of its environmentalimpacts. Based on the EIA report of IAIL2 the Project Appraisal Document (PAD) specifiedthat there were no significant environmental issues under the project and, the important environmentalissues included likely impacts of irrigationrun-off on Chaohu Lake eutrophication,and other environmental issues included control over the applicationof pesticides and chemical fertilizers, dam safety of reservoirs for irrigationwater supply and environmentalimpacts of constructionactivitiesetc., as shown in Table 2-1. Table 2-1: Bank PAD-specified EnvironmentalIssues for IAIL2 Important Other Environmental Issues Issues Environmental Environmental Issues Likely Chaohu Lake Control over application of pesticides eutrophication due to and chemical fertilizers; Main Contents None irrigation run-off Dam safety of irrigation water supply reservoirs Impacts of construction activities;  2.2. Assessment of Actual EnvironmentalImpacts of IAIL2 Project 2.2.1. Significant Environmental Issues Evidences of project implementation in Anhui Province have verified the conclusion in the Bank's PAD of "the Project doesn't involve any significant environmental issues". The project did not see any of them during its implementation and will unlikely see any either in the future. 2.2.2. Important Environmental Issues The important environmental issue involved in IAIL2 is the impacts of irrigation run-off on Chaohu Lake eutrophication.According to studies of Anhui project area, the major pollutant sources caused the problem are industrial wastewater and urban domestic sewage from the project areas, which account for about 80-90% while the pollution of non-point polluting sources takes up around 10-20%.The total catchment area of the lake is 1.3 million ha, the project area of Anhui was only 130,000ha while the space of areas whose irrigation run-off could directly flow to the lake was only 55,000 ha, 4.2% of the lake's total catchment area. According to estimations of Anhui Province, if excluding the impacts of the measures such as land leveling, conservation of soil fertility and moisture as well as balanced fertilization and calculatedbased on the rate of chemical fertilizers losses without the project, growth of the lake's nitrogen and phosphate load due to project implementation was only 0.58% and 0.66% respectively of the lake's total nitrogen and phosphate load. In fact, since project implementation, due to the above measures loss of chemical fertilizers had been greatly reduced, especiallythat of nitrogen and phosphate was reduced by 36% and 38% respectively. In another word, the annual increment nitrogen and phosphate load in the lake by run-off from the project areas accounted for only 0.37% and 0.41% respectively of itstotal nitrogen and phosphate load. Therefore, they had tiny impacts on the lake's eutrophication. Table 2-2 provides the analysis on the project's impacts on Chaohu Lake eutrophication. Monitoring results of Anhui Provincial EnvironmentalMonitoring Center show from 1998through 2000 Chaohu Lake was in a status of eutrophication,but its degree was decreasing year by year. Between 2001 and 2002, eutrophicationhad dropped to the medium level. Although the improvementwas largely due to upgraded treatment of industrial wastewater and municipal sewage, the implementation of this project has at least not produced negative impacts on the control of Chaohu Lake eutrophication.  Table 2-2: Impacts of Nitrogen and Phosphate Losses from Project Areas on Chaohu Lake Eutrophication Impact of industrialwastewater and urban sewage 90 % Total catchment area 11.3million ha I Project areas with irrigation run-off direct entering into the lake 55,000ha Project areas with irrigation run-off direct entering into the lake out of total 4.2 % catchment area Increase of the nitrogen load by the project out of total nitrogen load of the lake 0.37 % IIncrease of the phosphorus load by the project out of total phosphorus load of 1 0.41 % I 2.2.3. Other Environmental Issues I) Control of Fertilizer and Pesticide Application During project implementation, IPM technologies were widely adopted in the project areas. The integration of disease-resistantvarieties promotion with application of pesticides with high efficiency, low toxicity and low residue and bio-pesticides replacing original highly toxic pesticides had effectively improved farmland eco-environmentin the project areas. Table 2-3 compares the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers during and before the project. Table 2-3: Changes in Application of Pesticides and Their Residues in Soil and Water in Project Areas (%) Reduction of Reduction of Increase of Reduction of Reduction of Pesticides Per Highly Toxic Bio- Pesticides Pesticides Unit Area Pesticides pesticides Residue in soil Residue in Water 54.9 85.2 146 18 21 In response to the deficit of phosphate and potassium, particularly potassium, the project provinces carried out a number of measures during the implementation of the project to balance soil fertility, i.e. control of nitrogen (reducingnitrogen application in some project areas), stabilizing phosphate (increasingphosphate application in some areas) and supplementingpotassium. Changes in soil fertility in project areas between 1998and 2002 are summarized in Table 2-4. Table 2-4: Changes of Soil Fertility in Project Areas between 1998 and 2002 7  Without Project With Project N p205 KzO N p205 K20 1 0.38 0.35 1 0.51 0.46 In addition, advanced fertilizingtechniqueswere disseminatedin project areas, such as deep application,mixed application,etc., thus increasingthe efficiencyof fertilizers, lowering loss of chemical fertilizers and reducing the negative impacts of irrigationrun- off on receiving water bodies. Based on the environmental monitoring results during five years7project implementation,Table 2-5 summarizesbasic environmental monitoring conclusions. Table 2-5: Basic Conclusions of Environmental Monitoring Items Evaluation Conclusion I I 1. Environment Oualitv 3) Groundwater only i i a few-spots. Soil qualitywas good with single and comprehensivepollution 1 indices decreasing. 5) Farm produce /Good quality farm produce, which met relevant national quality contamination standards. 2. Soil Fertility Soil fertilityincreasedwith more rational compositionof nitsogen, phosphate and potassium The above results indicate that due to effective implementationof various environmental protection measures, overall environment quality was rather good and improved year by year. Project implementationhas not imposed any significantnegative impacts on the environment.Therefore,the project is environmentally sustainable. 11) Dam Safety Among the reservoirs involvedunder the project, Mahe Reservoir was unsafe and needed to be strengthened. So far, the work has been completed, as shown in Table 2-6. During project implementationthere had been no dam safetyproblems or environmental problems related to dam safety. Table 2-6: Statistics of Dam Strengtheningin the Project Area  Total Name Approved Inception Completion Investment (100 mil. yuan) Foziling September May 2002 M~~2005 1.62 Reservoir 2002 Longhekou May 2001 February 2002 October 2004 0.4727 Reservoir 111) Impacts of ConstructionActivities Most of the works under this project were excavation and construction of laterals, structures and pumping stations. These works were small and relatively simple and scattered. Most of the activities were undertaken in already developed farmland areas and the construction period was short (generallywithin half a year). Therefore, environmental problems related to project construction were minor and the impacts were tiny. In addition, during project implementation, for construction of relatively important projects the contractors were required in the contracts to comply with relevant national and local laws, regulations and standards on environmentalprotection, sanitation and epidemics control and the Engineers were entrusted to supervisethe contractors. Therefore, construction of all civil works caused neither major environmentalproblems nor significantpublic health problems or public complaints. 2.3. Summary Conclusions of IAIL2 EnvironmentalImpactsAssessment Table 2-7 summarizes the actual assessment on the environmentalimpacts of IAIL2. 2.4. Recommendations for Improvement of IAIL3 EnvironmentalManagement Based on the lessons learned from IAIL2 in terms of environmental management practices improvements should be made in the following aspects: 1) IAIL2 EMP was not so specific and MIL3 EMP should be more targeted and applicable; 2) IAIL2 didn't focus on water saving and water saving objectives should be clearly set for IAIL3; 3) According to the environmental practices of IAIL2 methodologies and contents of environmental monitoring for IAIL3 should be adjusted as appropriate.  Table 2-7: Summary Conclusions of EnvironmentalAssessment Items Status of Completion/AssessmentConclusion Significant Environmental No significant environmental issues occurred. Issues Important Environmental Issues Lake eutrophication Minor impacts were found and could be ignored Environmental Monitoring 1)Environment quality Monitoring for consecutive five years shows good environmentquality in the project areas. 2) Soil fertility Monitoring results show improved soil fertility and composition of N, P and K. Other Environmental Issues 1) Environment management Relevant laws and rules were observed during during construction construction.No important environmentalproblems emerged. 2 Control of esticides and IPM and balanced fertilizing reduced pesticide residue c emical fertifizers b and loss of chemical fertilizers. 3) Dam safety Relevant dam rehabilitation works have been completed and no dam safety problems occurred. 3. Comparison of EnvironmentalConditions and Environmental Impacts Between IAIL3 and IAIL2 3.1. Comparison of Project Counties (Cities) 3.1.1 Comparison by Administrative Division Table 3-1 lists the project cities and counties of IAIL2 and IAIL3 and Figure 3-1 gives the location of IAIL2 and IAIL3 project cities and counties.   Figure 3-1 Locations of IAIL3 and IAIL2 Subprojectsin Anhui Province  The table indicatesthat with the exceptionof Hefei the other project areas are all different from those of IAIL2. Therefore,most of the IAIL3 areas are new. Table 3-1: Comparison of IAIL2 and IAIL Project Areas in Anhui (by Administrative Division) IAIL2 Project Areas IAIL3 Project Areas I ~unici~alityl County (City, District) I ~ u n i c i ~ a l i tCounty (City, District) ~ l Feidong, Changfeng, Hefei Feidong, Changfeng,Feixi Hefei outskirts Lujiang, Hexian, Hanshan,Wuwei, Chaohu Chaohu Juchao Huoqiu, Shouxian, Shucheng, Liu'an Lu'an Jin'an, Yu'an Huaining,Zongyang,Tongcheng, Anqing Qianshan, Taihu, Susong, Anqing Wangjiang,Anqing Outskirts Bengbu Huaiyuan, Wuhe, Guzhen Huainan Huainan Fengtai, Panji Dingyuan, Jinjiao, Chuzhou Chuzhou Fengyang, Mingguang, Nanjiao, Tianchang, Langya, Lai'an Note: Bold ones refer to new project cities and counties. 3.1.2 Comparison by Irrigation Districts Since IAIL3 is located in different areas from IAIL2, its irrigation water sources are also different.Water comes from surfacerivers and reservoirsnear the project areas. Table 3-2 lists the irrigation districtsunder IAIL3. Table 3-2: Division of Project Areas of Anhui by Irrigation District County (City, Municipality Irrigation District District) Feidong Reservoirirrigation district (Pi-shi-hangID) Hefei Changfeng Reservoir irrigation district (Pi-shi-hangID) Outskirts River irrigationdistrict (Nafei River) Huaiyuan Well irrigated district River irrigation district (Huaihong New River, Bengbu Wuhe Beifei River, TianjingLake) Guzhen Well irrigation district  River irrigation district (Yongxing River, Fengtai Huainan Xifei River) Panji River irrigationdistrict (Huai River,Ni River) Dingyuan Chi River Basin Irrigation District Quanjiao River irrigation district (Chu River) Reservoir irrigation district (Guangou Fengyang Reservoir, FengyangshanReservoir,Randeng Reservoir) Mingguang Fengshuiling Reservoir River irrigation district (Qingliu River, Sha Nanjiao Chuzhou River) Reservoirirrigation district (Fushan Tianchang Reservoir,Chuanqiao Reservoir,Datong Reservoir) Reservoir irrigation district (Sha River Langya Reservoir) River irrigation district (Lai River, Baita Lai'an River, Chu River) Note: Bold ones refer to IAIL3 well irrigated area. 3.2. Comparison of Environmental Conditions Table 3-3 compares the agriculturalnatural conditionsin IAIL2 and IAIL3 project areas. Table 3-3: Comparison of Natural Conditions of IAIL2 and IAIL3 Project Areas Natural Environment Subtropicalhumid monsoon climate; within medium Subtropicalhumid monsoon climate, and low latitude areas, great weather changeswith multi-year average precipitation 900- frequent activities of cold and warm currents. Great 1 , 4 5 0 ~great annualprecipitation ; changes of precipitation distributionin different years Climate variations and very unbalanced and within a specificyear. Precipitation declines from distribution.Annual average the south to the north. Multi-year averageprecipitation temperature 15-17' C 900-1,450~. Annual average temperature 15.5-16.9' C. to areas Hilly areas between Yangtze and Huai Rivers and Huai Topography Yangtze and Huai Rivers with River plain. complicatedtopography. Variety of soil parent materials;rice Soil Mostly rice soil, then brown soil. soil, brown soil & brown moisture soil. Irrigation Surfacereservoirs and rivers with Surfacereservoirs and rivers with guaranteedwater Water guaranteed water sources. sources. Sources Regional Long-term agriculturaldevelopment Long-term agriculturaldevelopmentregion Development region It is seen from Table 3-3 that the environmental conditions in IAIL3 areas are quite similarwith that in IAIL2 areas althoughmost of the IAIL3 areas are different to IAIL2 areas. Therefore,the environmentalissues involved in MIL3 are similarto that in IAIL2.  In addition, it can be seen from Figure 3-1 that the IAIL3 areas are between the areas of IAILl(21 counties of Huaibei, Fuyang, and Suzhou Cities) and IAIL2: IAIL2 was located mainly at south of Yangtze River, IAILl was located mainly at north of Huai River, and IAIL3 is located between the Huai River and the Yangtze River. The environmental conditions in IAIL3 are similar partly to that in IAILl and partly to that in IAIL2 without new environmental issues involved. Anyway, in IAIL2, the Chaohu lake was assessed for possible eutrophication impacts due to farmland run-off and drainage from project area. The IAIL3 is basically out of Chaohu Lake basin with no adverse impacts on the lake's eutrophication. Most of IAIL3 areas are in Huai River basin and therefore the farmlandrun-off and drainage from IAIL3 areas might have adverse impacts on the water quality of the tributaries of the Huai River basin, for which measures have been included in the EMPIAnhui. 3.3. Comparison of Project Contents Table 3-4 compares the main contents of IAIL2 and IAIL3. Table 3-4: Comparison of IAIL2 and IAIL3 Project Contents IAIL2 Contents IAIL3 Contents Canal and ditch excavation & dredging, Canal excavation,bridges, culverts and structures,drainage & irrigationpumping other structures, constructingnew and stations, agricultural-usepower cable, rural Water renovating existing pumping stations, roads, O&M equipment, 100smallwater Infrastructure agricultural-usepower cable, rural storageworks (ponds and water tanks below Construction roads, O&M equipment,220 water 100,000m3)to be built, 111tube wells to be storage dams repaired & maintainedand renovated, 1,478 new tube wells to be drilled Canal lining, undergroundpipeline, Anti-seepagecanals, low-pressurepipes, Engineering sprinkler and drip irrigation and mobile sprinkler and micro-(drip) irrigationand Water Saving surfacehoses mobile surfacehoses Land leveling, deep ploughingisoil Land leveling,deep ploughingisoil Agronomical loosening,return of straw to field, loosening,return of strawto field,balanced Water Saving balanced fertilization,training fertilization,training and dissemination Management WUA, SIDD WUA, SIDD Water Saving Improved-varietybreeding and processing, Improved-varietybreeding and IMP, county agriculturalextensioncenters, processing, IMP, township stations for comprehensive extension centers,township stations for agriculturalservices, agriculturalmachinery, comprehensiveagriculturalservices, agriculturaltraining and agricultural Agriculture agriculturalmachineryand service disseminationand extension, green stations, agriculturaltraining and produce dissemination and extension, agriculturaldisseminationand specialized farmer associations, pilot extension,barn and sunning ground cooperative operations among farmers renovation, fertilizerbatching plants and dragonheads  Construction of farmland windbreak Constructionof farmland windbreak shelter Forestry shelter belts, nurseries, forestrypest control belts, nurseries, forestrypest control Training, study tour, technical assistance, Institutional Training, study tour, technical scientificresearch and dissemination,office Development assistance, scientificresearch, MIS, 4 equipmentand MIS system, farmers' and Support SIDDs and 23 WUAs. associations(includingWUA) Note: Bold parts refer to new additional contents. The comparison reveals that while improving, strengthening and rehabilitating the original irrigated agricultural regions, the main contents of the two projects are basically the same, including canal lining, constructing on-farm works, rehabilitating existing and building new pumping stations and tube wells, land leveling, improving field passageways and building field drainage network and windbreak shelterbelts. Table 3-4 also shows two main differences in the contents of IAIL2 and IAIL3: 1) Well Irrigation District There were no irrigation districts under IAIL2 while IAIL3 will have well irrigated areas of Huaiyuan and Guzhen counties. Project contents include repair and drilling of 1,589 tube wells. The two counties are rich in groundwaterresources and groundwateroverdraft will not be an issue. 2) Agriculture In terms of agriculture, the Project include three new additional contents: 1) "green"(Non-polluted) farm produce; 2) specialized farmer associations; and 3) pilot farmer-dragonhead cooperative operations. In terms of component selection, those with livestock breeding, high water consumption,heavy pollutions and use of wild resources are ruled out. Table 3-5 provides the proposed key pilot bases for "green" farm produce and sites for pilot farmer-dragonhead cooperative operations of Anhui. Table 3-6 lists the proposed specialized farmers associations to be established in the project areas. Table 3-5: Green Farm Produce Production Bases and Products of Anhui Category Municipality County Name Products Hefei Feidong Green vegetables Carrot, tomato Green Farm Produce Mingguang Green Chuzhou Mingguang Green bean Bean Big Green Soybean Big green Bengbu Huaiyuan Pilot Farmer- Association soybean dragonhead Xinji Town Cooperative Vegetable Production Huainan Fengtai Operations and Marketing Vegetables Company  Table 3-6: Specialized Farmers' Associations in Anhui Project Area Municipality County Associations/produce Feidong Xiaodao vegetable Hefei Changfeng Zhuxiang rice oil Bahe D a y grape Fengtai Xinji vegetable Huainan Panji Pinyu mushroom Huaiyuan Xincheng bean Bengbu Guzhen Xinmaqiao h i t s Wuhe Huinan rice Fengyang Damiao rice Jinjiao Chenqian cole Nanjiao Shahe corn Chuzhou Tianchang Datong cotton Dingyuan Yanqiao rice Mingguang Lushan melon seeds Laian Shunshan rice Langya Grass As shown in Tables 3-5 and 3-6 the MIL3 Project aims at supportingthe planting, processing and marketing of green farm produce, farmer-dragonheadcooperative operational organizations and specialized farmers' associations. There are no activities involving livestock breeding, high water consumption, heavy pollutions and use of wild resources and therefore, there will be no relevant environmental issues. 3.4. Main Conclusions Based on the comparison of IAIL2 and IAIL3 projects the following conclusions can be drawn: I) With the exception of Hefei the other project areas under IAIL3 are new; 2) Natural conditions of MIL2 and IAIL3 areas are same or similar. All belong to long- term agricultural development areas. Therefore, environmental issues involved under IAIL3 are similar to IAIL2; 3) Under MIL2 irrigation run-off affected lake is Chaohu Lake while under IAIL3 the affected water bodies are tributaries of Huai River;  4) No well irrigated areas under MIL2 while there are two well irrigated areas of Huaiyuan and Guzhen under IAIL3, in which water resources are rich without groundwater overdraft problems. 5) The new contents of "green" farm produce, farmer-dragonheadcooperative operational organizations and specialized farmer associations are to plant, process and market their respective local dominant agriculturalproducts and there will be no components involving livestock breeding, high water and wild bio-resources consumption and heavy pollutions. Therefore,new contents will not lead to negative environmental impacts. 4. Clarificationon Preparationof IAIL3 EnvironmentalManagement Plan 1) According to World Bank requirements the province has prepared a complete and separate IAIL3 Environmental ManagementPlan to be the attachment of the Report; 2) Since the five provinces under the IAIL3 Project vary greatly in natural conditions and differ in focuses on environmental issues, according to the requirements of the Bank preparation mission separate EMPs by province will be prepared to make the plans more targeted at environmental issues and facilitate their implementationby each of the provinces; 3) In view of the successfbl implementation of IAIL2 and that the natural conditions of the project areas and contents of IAIL3 are basically the same as IAIL2, IAIL3 EMP is prepared based on the experience and lessons learned from IAIL2, which will fbrther improve the EMP for the Project. 4) Compared with IAIL2 EMP, IAIL3 Anhui EMP has got the following features: w Emphasizing water resources protection and impacts of irrigation run-off on lake eutrophication as important environmentalissues in the project areas of Anhui; w Confirming above everything else environmentalissues involved in the Project, based on which the objectives and contents of environmentalmanagement are decided, making the EMP more targeted and applicable; w Emphasizing analysis, evaluation and application of environmentalmonitoring results; w Clarifying environmental management agencies, their respective responsibilities and costs and sources of fbnding for EMP implementation; w Making necessary adjustments to the items, parameters, venue and frequency of environmental monitoring; w In light of the current model for constructionmanagement of physical projects in China, the environmental protection measures to be implementedby the Contractor are summarized and incorporated into the contract in the form of "Rules for Construction Environmental Protection, with its implementationbeing supervised by the site Engineer entrustedby the Project Management Office (PMO). Environmental protection measures for construction activities will not be detailed in the EMP;  apeThere is no soil salinization in the project areas of Anhui and the issue is no longer addressed in the EMP. Attachment 1: MIL3 Anhui Environmental Management Plan