Argentina - El Nino Emergency Flood Project

Report No. PID6031 Project Name Argentina-El Nino Emergency Flood Project (+) Region Latin America and Caribbean Sector Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project ID ARPE55935 Borrower The Argentine Republic Implementing Agency Sub-Unidad Central de Coordinacion para la Emergencia Unidad Ejecutora Central de la Secretaria de Asistencia a las Provincias Ministry of the Interior Hipolito Yrigoyen 340, Piso 5, Oficina 5076 (1086) Buenos Aires, Capital Federal Argentina Telephone: (54-1) 342-1030 Fax: (54-1) 342-7395 Initial PID Date November 6, 1997 Project Appraisal Date November 17, 1997 Project Board Date January 20, 1998 Country and Sector Background: In Argentina, El Nino events have coincided with severe flooding in the Parand River basin. Since 1983 the strongest recorded floods of the century have occurred in parallel with the strongest measured El Nino events. The 1982-83 event gave rise to the worst flooding in the Parand basin in the twentieth century, with an estimated US$1.8 billion in economic losses. Along with the flooding came incidences of disease breakouts, given the damage to potable water and sanitation facilities, and the collapse of other social infrastructure services. On a smaller scale, the 1992 flood, which coincided with the 1991-92 El Nino, also had a tremendous impact on the basin, with economic losses at US$905 million and 3.1 million inhabitants flooded. The signs of the 1997-98 El Nino have been present for several months in the Parand basin, with the event being now measured as the second strongest of the century, only behind that of the 1982-83 El Nino. As a result of the event, southern Brazil has sustained substantial rains which have flooded the Uruguay River, which discharges directly into the Parand River delta. The Uruguay River has historically not been a source of severe flooding until this year, in which it exceed all previous values (in volume and duration). Compounding the flooding problem this year is that the Parand River has been flowing 1.5 meters above normal height all year, thus impeding the Uruguay River from discharging into the delta. The Parand River's elevation is abnormally high due to major rainfall and a large accumulation of rainfall in the Pantanal (a large wet-land region in southern Brazil and Paraguay), where normal water height has been exceeded by roughly 2.0 meters since April 1997.  El Nino is now starting to affect the northwest of Argentina, as unseasonably amounts of rainfall are producing flash floods. Full impact of El Nino in the northwestern provinces is not expected until June of 1998. Beyond the obligation to attend to those affected by the exceptional floods, the Government of Argentina plans to expand its structured program to address the phenomenon that affects the Parand basin and the alluvial basins of the arid and semi-arid regions of northwest Argentina. The expansion of this program will be built upon the successfully implemented strategy in the Parand basin provinces, which have been supported by previous Bank loans. Project Objectives: The objective of this loan is to help finance the development and implementation of a project to offset the damaging impact of El Nino in: (i) the northwestern provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, and in the Cuyo provinces of Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis, and any other province that could be affected by El Nino; and (ii) the seven littoral provinces of Buenos Aires, El Chaco, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Misiones, and Santa Fe through additional works above and beyond the Flood Protection Project (ARPE-6052). Specific activities include helping to minimize loss or damage by implementing protective measures and rehabilitate infrastructure and related services to their state prior to the emergency. An additional objective is to strengthen institutions in the northwestern provinces to deal with flood emergencies. Project Description: The proposed project is based on the Bank's strategy to assist countries that are likely to be affected by El Nino. The project has been designed with two geographical components: (i) one for the six northwestern provinces and the three Cuyo provinces, and any other province that could be affected by El Nino; and (ii) the second geographical component for the seven participating littoral provinces of the Parand basin. A third component is designed to strengthen the Sub-Unidad Central de Coordinacion para la Emergencia's (SUCCE)--the project's implementing unit at the federal level--administrative and technical capacity to coordinate the implementation of the project. The proposed operation is designed to be implemented in two distinct phases: (a) a protection phase of about 12 months, for the northwestern provinces; and (b) a rehabilitation phase for both geographic regions, estimated to require up to three years. In addition, the project includes, for the northwestern provinces, a capacity-building subcomponent to manage flood emergencies and a small scale housing subcomponent. The capacity-building subcomponent calls for the establishment of a Sub-Unidad Provincial de Coordinacion para la Emergencia (SUPCE) and strengthening of the civil defense for each participating province except for those of the littoral provinces for which there is no capacity-building component because of the existing institutional mechanism in place from the Flood Rehabilitation (ARPE-6051) and Flood Protection Projects. Protection: Works are expected to consist of: (a) the Acquiring of goods and execution of works for emergency river flood control - 2 -  (including riverbed cleaning, levee and embankment strengthening, and other river protection measures) and (b) protection of infrastructure, such as bridges, health centers, and schools. Rehabilitation: This phase will be fully ascertained during the first few months of 1998. The eligibility of financing for any rehabilitation activities would be contingent on damages sustained from El Nino-related phenomena. Subproject categories include: (a) transport infrastructure; (b) drainage systems; (c) health and education facilities; (d) water supply and sewerage; and (e) river dredging, defenses and embankments. Investment subprojects to be financed under the rehabilitation phase would have to meet eligibility criteria agreed upon with the Government. Technical assistance: This phase would finance: (a) the establishment of the SUPCEs in the northwestern provinces for approximately three years; (b) equipment for civil defense coordination, training, and flood forecasting; (c) regional environmental studies, integrated with a regional flood-risk mapping; and (d) detailed engineering studies for works and inspection of such works during execution. Institutional Strengthening: This phase would strengthen SUCCE's administrative and technical capacity to coordinate implementation of the project and would assist SUCCE to carry out its required annual project accounts audit. Housing: Reconstruction of housing would be administered on homes destroyed or severely damaged through a program of grants and self- help work. The eligibility criteria and the framework to implement this subcomponent would be the same as that used successfully in the Flood Rehabilitation Project. Project Implementation: The implementation arrangements would remain essentially the same as those governing the ongoing Flood Rehabilitation Project and Flood Protection Project. The proposed project would be overseen by the Ministry of Interior's Secretariat for Financial Assistance to the Provinces (SFAP). The SUCCE, a subsidiary unit of SFAP's Central Executing Unit, would manage the operation at the national level. The proposed loan however does require a minimal strengthening of SUCCE in order to handle the additional administrative demands brought on by the new project. Since the Parand basin provinces already have strong executing units (SUPCEs), provincial executing units will need to be established in each affected northwest province. SUCCE would be responsible for overall project management, including providing orientation and technical assistance to the provinces in preparing, approving, controlling, and monitoring project implementation. At the provincial level the project would be implemented by the corresponding SUPCE. The SUPCEs would be responsible for procurement and contracting, subject to prior review by SUCCE. Project Financing: The total cost of the protection and -3 -  rehabilitation phases is estimated to be US$60.0 million, of which US$42.0 million would be financed from the proposed loan. The remaining US$18.0 million is to be financed from the participating provincial governments. The costs of the flood protection phase is estimated to be US$15.0 million, while the rehabilitation phase is expected to cost US$20.0 million for the northwestern provinces and US$25.0 million for the littoral provinces. Project Sustainability: Argentina has a proven institutional capacity for managing flood emergencies in the littoral provinces through the established SUCCE/SUPCE system. Furthermore, Argentina has the ability to expand this flood management system into the northwestern provinces based on its experience acquired nationally and in the Parand provinces. Sustainability of the rehabilitation works will be achieved through the use of technical criteria and cost-effective methodologies, and the institutional capacity that the project will develop. Lessons Learned: The main lesson learned is that physical rehabilitation alone is not sufficient to reduce the future flood damage and thus sustain project benefits, as well as safeguard the people and communities at risk. Therefore, a combination of structural and non-structural measures must be taken. Physical actions should be developed with the capacity to manage emergencies at provincial and local levels. The successful progress made in the Flood Rehabilitation Project can be replicated by applying the following principles: (i) using investments simple and easy to implement; (ii) using a flexible project design that is not over- specified; (iii) ensuring participation of interested provinces with adequate counterpart financing from the tax revenue sharing system; (iv) maintaining competent local executing units with the capacity to deal with emergencies; and (v) enabling flexibility to shift funds among eligible provinces. Environmental Aspects: This is a category B project. Because all works involve the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure or the protection from floods, negative environmental impacts are not expected. The project will continue with the best-practice approach of the ongoing Flood Protection Project. The works in this proposed project would be revised from an environmental point of view to: (i) guarantee protection of existing infrastructure and prevent urban development from expanding into high-risk zones; (ii) generate minimal interference in the natural process of flooding; and (iii) minimally affect the sensitive ecosystems of the regions. All subprojects will comply with these three conditions. In parallel, as the proposed project is being carried out, a regional environmental assessment of the area affected by the 100-year flood of the Uruguay River will be executed following a similar methodology used to assess the Parand River during preparation of the Flood Protection Project. The works in the northwestern provinces will be subject to a regional study of the designated long-term activities, including an environmental analysis and flood- risk mapping for selected basins. The project will not affect the quality or quantity of water flows to other riparian. No involuntary resettlement is foreseen in this project. - 4 -  Project Benefits: The main social and economic benefits of the proposed project are restoration of the damaged economic infrastructure and related services essential for the welfare of the population and economic activities, facilitating Argentina's competitiveness within MERCOSUR. Furthermore, the proposed project would improve the northwestern provinces and the Government's ability to manage future flood emergencies by creating mechanisms for coordinating the institutions involved, establishing a flood warning system, and conducting a detailed evaluation, in each of the northwestern provinces, of risks associated with floods. Project Risks Considered: The main risk of this emergency assistance operation derives from the uncertainty of the 1997-98 El Nino's intensity and precise geographic impact in the northwestern provinces. Other risks have been considered, such as institutional risks, where there is a risk of inadequate management and control of the program because of administrative weaknesses in the northwestern provinces. Counterpart funding during the project is a risk, however the required provincial funds are relatively small in comparison to annual receipts. Program Objective Categories: The project aims to help the environmentally sustainable development of the provinces by avoiding further economic losses caused by frequent floods. Project implementation will generate a job demand in the construction sector and other sectors such as transport, goods supply and other services. The housing component, in particular, would improve considerably the living conditions of their inhabitants, mostly lower-income segments of the population Contact Point: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not necessarily be included in the final project. Processed by the InfoShop week ending February 27, 1998 - 5 -  Annex Environmental Definition and Objectives: Environmental management procedures to be used during execution of the emergency loan are the same as those established for the ongoing Flood Protection Project. With minor adjustments, the existing institutional capacity within SUCCE can provide the quality of scoping, screening, environmental and social assessment, and supervision of works as needed. Furthermore, with the understanding that all works involve the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure or the protection from floods, no significant negative impacts are expected. All works would be revised from an environmental point of view to: (i) guarantee protection of existing infrastructure and of the non-expansion of urban development into high-risk zones; (ii) generate minimal interference in the natural process of the floodings; and (iii) produce a minimal effect on the sensitive ecosystems of the regions. All sub-projects will comply with these conditions. In parallel, the design of systems will be subject to an existing Environmental Manual (prepared under the Flood Protection Project), which mitigates the environmental risks from the construction phase. This manual, developed for the littoral provinces, will also be used in the participating provinces of the Northwest. Expected Impacts: Continuing with the best-practice approach of the ongoing Flood Protection Project, negative impacts are expected to be minimal. Sub-projects will be screened according to the environmental criteria agreed upon, which are at heart based on a "living with floods" strategy. In addition, any negative impacts to occur on the most part would be highly localized and short lived. This project does contain a pilot low-income housing sub-project for the northwestern provinces. There is no involuntary resettlement contemplated in this sub-project, as housing would be built on existing land for which legal tenure exists through voluntary and self-construction mechanisms. -6-