E816 January 2003 RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION FUND DEVELOPMENT BOARD ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT FOR RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROJECT II (RWSSP -II) FINAL REPORT NAWA RAJ KHATIWADA (Principal Investigator) 486 Shantinagar Marg Naya Baneshwor Kathmandu JANUARY 2003 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The P'rincipal Investigator wotuld like to express his gratitude to the Rural Water Supply ancd Sanitation Fuind Development Board (The Fuind Board) for providing an opportunity to carry otut Environmnent Assessment of 'Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project II'. The co-operation and support extended by Mr. Raj Babu Shrestha, Executive Director; Mr. Kishor Kumar Bihib, Deptuty Director, Mr. Mano.j Kumar Pokharel, Chief of the Administrationi, Mr. Dibya Klhadgi, Chief of the Teclhnical Division, Mr. Manoj Kumar Lal, Water Supply and Sanitation Engineer, Mr. Suvash Acharya and Mr. H-liral Gautam from the HRD section, Mr. Harish Clhandra Netupane and all other staff of the FuLnd Board are highly appreciated and thaniks are due to all of them. Similarly, tlhanks are also due to Mr. Christoplhe Bosch, Water and Sanitation Economist of the World Bank who kindly provided a major suppot and help in concepttualization of the stuLdy, preparation and finalization of the study. Thle Principal Investigator would also like to highly appreciate the comments and valuable suggestions provided by tlle Steering Committee members : Dr. Ram Bahadur Khadka, Dean of the School of Environmenital Management and Sustainable Development, Mr. Damodar P. Bhatta, Officer of Ministry of Population and Environment, Mr. Rajan lPande, Senior Engineer from Department of Water Supply and Sewerage. It gives the stuLdy team a great pleasure to recall the kind co-operation and help provided by the following individuals dtui-ing the field visit: Mr. Khem Raj Sapkota - Section Officer of Nepal Red Cross Society Kaski District (NRCS-KAS); Mr. Tanka Raj Dhakal of Gaidakot Yuba Cltub (GYC); Mr. Piush Shrestha of Vijaya Development Resource Center (VDRC); Mr. Dipesh Kumar Clhoudhary, Mr. Gobardhan ChouLdhari, Mr. Govinda Prasad Choudhari of Shree Bhawaini Yuba Club (SBYCB) and Devi Prasad Bhandari of Center for Community Development Services (CCDSB). Finally, the co-operationi, active participation and valuLable suggestions rendered to this stLdy by the memiibers of the users committees duLring the field visit are also highly appreciated and acknowledged. Januiiary 28, 2003 Nawa Raj Khatiwada, Dr. Eng. Shantinagar, Kathmadtu ( Principal Investigator ) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE T ITAL PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY viii I INTRODUCTION 1.1 General 1 1.2 Justification of the study I 1.3 Objectives of the environmental study 2 1.4 Methodology and activities 3 1 .5 Organisation and members of the study team 3 11 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT 2.1 Introduction 4 2.2 Project objectives 6 2.3 Project components 6 2.4 Project policy parameters 7 2.5 Project area 8 2.6 Anticipated benefits 8 2.7 Project cost 9 2.8 Environmental attributes of RWSSP 1 9 2.9 Water quality assessment of RWSSP I Schemes 1 1 2.10 Environmental aspects of RWSSP I: lessons learned and issues of major concern 14 2.11 Groundwater issues 15 Ill BASE LINE ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS 3.1 General 17 3.2 Topography 17 3.3 Climate 18 3.4 Soils 18 3.5 Land use 19 3.6 Socio-economy 21 3.7 State of the environment 22 3.8 Status of water supply and sanitation 25 3.9 State of the forest, agriculture and biodiversity 30 3.10 State of water borne diseases 31 IV GUIDING POLICIES, REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS 4.1 World Bank's EA requirements 32 4.2 National EA requirements 33 4.3 National legislation on water resources management 36 4.4 Other relevant legislations 37 4.5 Staindards 39 4.() Policies 40 4.7 Inter-inational obligations 43 4.8 Existing environmental code of practice of other agencies 43 V IMPACT IDENTIFICATION AND MITIGATION MEASURES 5.1 IntroduLction 45 5.2 Impacts caulsed by the proposed project 45 5.3 Impacts caused onl the services provided by the proposed projects 46 5.4 Analysis of the environmenital impacts 46 5.5 Water quantity related impacts 46 5.6 Water quality related impacts 47 5.7 Enviionimental sanitation related impacts 48 5.8 Impacts related to the tradition and culture 49 5.9 Impacts related to planninlg and construction phase 50 5.10 Other impacts 50 5.11 Cumulative environmental impact 50 VI ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS 6.1 Introduction 59 6.2 No project 59 6.3 Project witlhout considerinlg the environ-mental elements 60 6.4 Project addressing the enivironimental issues and incorporating the mitigation measures 60 6.5 Alternative for project components 61 VIl MITIGATION PLAN AND MONITORING 7.1 Environmental management plan 62 7.2 Environimental performance indicators 63 7.3 Modifications and additions suLggested to the existing RWSSFDB Formats 73 7.4 Tentative cost estimates 74 REFERENCES 76 APPENDIX A: Field visit report APPENDIX B: Questionnaire suirvey APPENDIX C : WHO water quality guidelinle APPENDIX D: Questionnaire formats APPENDIX E: Updated RWSSFDB Formats APPENDIX F: SuLmmary of response to the feedback provided - iv - LIST OF FIGURES Figuire Title Page 2.1 Coverage of RWSSP I 5 2.2 The project cycle under RWSSP I 8 2.3 Mapping of arsenic contamination in Nepal 13 3.1 Land cover / Land use and protected areas 18 3.2 Under five mortality rate by place of residence 29 4.1 Environmental assessment process in Nepal 34 6.1 (a) Development with projects not incorporating the environmental issues (b) Development with projects which address the environmental issues and incorporate mitigation measures 61 AP- I Intake collection chamber of Halede WSSSP A4 AP-2 Snail identified at the reservoir in Paudurkot WSSS A4 AP-3 Tapstand post and village pavement (Paudurkot WSSS) A5 AP-4 Traditional stone spout (Paudurkot WSSS) A5 AP-5 Tap stand post (Patichaur WSSS) A6 AP-6 Transmission main in the Begnas Lake (Simle Kusunde WSSS) A6 AP-7 A tapstand post of Taranagar WSSS A7 AP-8 Reservoirs under construction (Baikunthanagar / Saraswotinagar WSSSs) A7 AP-9 Tubewell in use (Shantanagar WSSS) A8 AP-10 Dugwell in Chiyabari WSSS A8 AP-] I Backyard of the house in Chiyabari WSSS A9 AP-12 Latrine and bathroom (Musaharnia WSSS) A9 AP-13 Intake of Kholaghari Mugu WSSS AIO AP-14 Tapstand post of Kholaghari Mugu WSSS AIO LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 2.1 Batchwise coverage of the projects under RWSSP I 6 2.2 Sanitary conditions around selected drinking water sources 9 2.3 Use of saved time in fetching water by the respondents 10 2.4 Changes in personal sanitation practices 10 2.5 Water quality data of surface and groundwater sources in Nepal 12 2.6 Arsenic concentration in different districts 13 3.1 Area, population and number of districts by geographic region 18 3.2 Elevation geology and soil characteristics by geographic region 19 3.3 Land use pattern 19 3.4 Distribution of households by selected water supply and sanitation indicators 27 3.5 Stattus of water supply and sanitation 1996 28 3.6 Housing characteristics by residence 28 3.7 Trends in the infant mortality rate in Nepal 28 3.8 Expected status by the end of ninth plan 29 3.9 Incidence of diarrhea by region 2055/2056 to 2057/2058 31 3.10 Top ten leading diseases by development region and ecological zones, FY 2057/2058 31 3.11 Top ten reasons for hospitalization 31 4.1 Policies related water and environment in some contemporary acts 39 4.2 Major socio-economic goals 41 5.1 Matrix of environmental impacts and mitigation measures 52 7.1 Summary of activities described by EMP 63 7.2 Environmental management plan 65 7.3 Environmental performance indicators 73 7.4 Tentative cost estimates 75 AP-1 Lists of schemes visited Al B-1 Distribution of respondents BI B-2 Summary of response from users B4 - vi - LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CBO - Community Based Organisation DDC - District development Committee DWSS - Department of Water Supply and Sewerage EA - Environment Assessment EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment EMP -- Environmental Management Plan EMAP - Environmental Management Action Plan EPA --- Environment Protection Act EPR - Environment Protection Rules FDB - FuLnd Development Board (Short form of RWSSFDB) IIMG - His Majesty's Government HiSE - Hygiene and Sanitation Education IDA - International Development Association IEE - Initial Environmental Examination JAKPAS - Janatako Khaniepani ra Sarsaphai Karyakram KAP - Knowledge Attitude and Practice LSGA - Local self Governance Act NWSC - Nepal Water Supply Corporation PM - Portfolio Manager RWSSP - Rural Water Stupply and Sanitation Project RWSSFDB - Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board SA - Service Agency SO - Support Organisation VDC - Village Development Committee WATSAN - Water Supply and Sanitation WRA - Water Resources Act WTSS - Women Technical Support Services WUC - Water User Committee WUG - Water User Group VHP - Village Health Promoters vii - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The concepf of flhe project (Rutral Water Supply andl Sanitation Phase II) is based on thle /-inciples tlhait (17)1)11priah' vater supply and sanitation technologies redutce the prevaili/ng traditional euvironmental risks in the rur-al commnunities anad contribtate to poverty reductioni (11n(1 social Capital 1n1obli-jltition The project is based on1 the inztegrated aproach in wvhich einlp/hasis is given ons boti hara(lware components aindl softiware aspects. Th is st dv /1(5hs i(len4tfie(l a Jewt environmnental issutes r-elatedl to waiter supply andi(i saniitation schemnes undi(1er RWVSSI' 11, which nieedl to he inicorpor-ated in the scheme cycle in ordler to attaini tlhe en vironlli,nlat'al suistaimafhilit ofjtl/e project. InltrOdIuICtiOnl With the objectives of improving sector performance and delivering healtlh and hygienie benefits to rural population of Nepal, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project 11 (RWSSP 11) has beenl proposed by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board (RWSSFDB). The project will receive financial assistance from International Development Association (IDA). RWSSP ll is planned to implement the rural water and sanitation activities in one hand, wlile on the other hand to empower the rural communities essential for the enlanicemiienit of socio-economy. The project aims at socio-economic development of deprived rural comnnLlities throughl the developmen-t of basic infrastructures. Social mobilization and organlizationi of the communLities is defined as the starting point in the project. Community participation at project planning, implementation and operation has been identified as thle pre- reqLuisite for the developmiienit of the sclhemes under RWSSP II. Targeting the poor and CenSlinillg the eqLuity and gender balance would be tlle basic principles of tllis project. TIhle lproposecl project is witlhin the framework of the national policy on water supply antd sanitationi (WATI SAN) sector in Nepal. The proponent of the project, RWSSFDB or tlle Funld Board has been identified as a major stakeholder of the WATSAN sector in Nepal. The tentlh nationial plani (2002-2007) of Nepal has a target of improving the socio-economic indicators of- significanitly by providing water supply and sanitation facilities to 85% and 50% of the popultationl in Nepal. The proposed project RWSSP Tl is expected to have a significant contribution to aclieve this goal. This study 'Environment Assessment of RWSSP II' is aimed at recommending measures for cnhiancing and sustaininig the positive environmental benefits of the project by identifying the both external and internal negative environmental impacts and by formulating the mitigation measLures and a plan to incorporate the measures in the scheme cycle. The propose(d project 'Ilhc FuLnd Developmlenit Board was created by His Majesty's Government of Nepal on March 14, 1996 witlh the approval of formation by His Majesty's Government under the Developmenit Board Act, 1956. The Board is designed based on the experience of a field testing pilot project, acronymed 'JAKPAS' (the Nepali acronym of Janata Ko Khaniepani Ra Sarsafai Karvakram - meaning People's Water Supply and Sanitation Program). Encouraged by the optimlistic results of JAKPAS activity and with the support from IDA, the Board launched a five year (1996- 2001) project called Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Plhase I (RWSSP I, Cr. 2912-NEP). The project had a goal of providing water supply and sanitationi services for 900 commnunities in four batches. - viii - Total Population to be benefitecl from the four phased implementation is expectecd to he 550,000. 'l'he working principles of RWSSP I included: a demand lead participatory approach, increase community capacity to sustain the project, enhancement of the role of womeni in all aspects of the project, and integration of hygiene and sanitation education witlh techlnically, enivironmentally anid operationally sustainable water supply. This strategy anid the results Of the implementationi of RWSSP I obtained so far provided a good example in the sector of water supply and sanitation in Nepal towards the implementationi of the policy of (Iccentralized service delivery with greater involvemenit of private sector and NGOs. RWSSP I also illustrated the benefits and opportunities obtained tlhrouglh an altemative approach. The concept and approach of RWSSP I is fouLnd to be sound and yielding successfuil results onl the gr-ouniid witlh inclications of stroing commtunity ownership and commitmenit wlhich paved a way for schclcme sustainiability. Witlh the tangible outptuts obtained and witlh an objective of providing the services to the remaining ruiral areas of Nepal, the Funld Board has propose(d a follow-on project of RWSSP 1, termed as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Projcct 11 (RWSSP 11). The conceptual framework, institutional structure and the implementatioll ar-ranigemiienlt of RWSSP 11 will be similar to RWSSP 1. However, the project will incorporate the lessonis learnied and more fLunctions are expected to be sub-contracted to qualified and comzpetenit private / NGO sectors in different regions. IRWSSI1 11 has two major objectives: improving sector institutional performance and imiainsti-eamii this ("Board") approach in the Govemnment system and delivering sustainable health anid hygiene benefits to the rural population through improvements in water ancd sanitation faclcilities. The second objective is similar to that of RWSSP I and expected to be achieved by integr-ating healtlh and hygicene eduLcation, assisting women to idenitify ways to earn incomiie fromii time saved in cartying water and by strengthening government and n1on1- governmental capacities. RWSSP 11 is expected to be implemented on the unlcovered villages of the 49 dlistrlicts where RWSSP I has been focused and the remainiing 26 districts of the Kingdomii of Nepal. The proposed project is estimated to benefit some 700, 000 (in the rural, mllOlunltainS, hill and( the Terai) people in the Five development regions of Nepal. Baseline environ mental status Ihe topography of Nepal is comprisecl of Terai, Hills and Mountains. The Terai regioni conlstituLtes the most productive agricultural region of the country. The altitude of Terai ranges fiom 60 m to 300 n. The Chure range constitute the sotuthern hill region of Nepal with an altitude upto 2000 m. The altitude of the Mahabharat and the mid hills range from 600 to 3000 ni. The innler Himalayani Valleys sittuated at an elevation of about 4000 m is home to highllanld dwellers. The percentage distribtution of coverage and the population for mountains, hills and the Terai is 35.2, 41.7 anid 23.1 and 7.29, 44.28 and 48.43, respectively. Because of this topographical variation, the couintry exhibits the diversity not only in the natural resources and climatic conditions b1ut also the settlement pattern, socio-economy, tradition and culture. Consequently the water stupply and sanitation schemes located in the different regions demand specific consider-ationis for effective implementation and smooth functioning. The type of the soil differs according to the geograplhic region. The soil in Terai and Churia regioni consists mainly of alluvial deposits derived from the erosion of sediments from the 1-limalays. This region is higlhly fertile and intensely cultivated. The Churia region comprises of nor-tlh dipping sedimentary rocks of tertiary age characterized by low elevation strike ridges. The Iid-hills consists mainly of low grade metamorphic and metasedimentary rocks suchi as - ix - phyllite, quartzite, limestone and dolomite. The components of a rural water supply project normally come across the following land use types: forest and shrub area, crop land (Klhet and Bari ), barren land (Pakho Jarnin) and settlement area. Forest and shrub land are generally shallow and well drained soils occurring mostly on moderately steep to very steep terrain. The land which is used for crops like paddy, Khet, has relatively low permeability as of high value of clay or loam in the soil. Bari and Pakho Jamin have relatively high permeability values as of higlh content of boulder and gravel beds. The land is distributed as: cultivated land - 20%, non-cultivated land - 7 %, grass land - 12%, forest land - 29% , shrub/degraded land - 11% and others - 22 % . National Population Census 2001 showed that the percentages of no. of households having agriculture land, and livestock and birds has remained to be 75.6 and 71.5, respectively The Census data also indicated that 84.08 % of the total households are located in rural settings. Thus it is very clear that majority of the population to be covered under RWSSP II will be farmers located throughout the 75 districts of Nepal. The opportunity provided by the existing landuse pattern of rural communities for rural water supply and sanitation is due to the nature of schemes to be of small scale and in isolated locations. However, the difficulty lies with the fact that it is costly and may not be feasible to cover the all scattered households of a community. The population of Nepal increased from 18.491 million in 1991 to 23.15 million in 2001. Principal indicators of the socio-economy in 2001 included : life expectancy at birth-59.7 years, literacy rate - 53.74 %, per capita GDP- Rs 17,712 and per capita GNP - Rs. 18,451. The Nepal Human Development Report 2001 estimated the Human Development Index (HDI) for Nepal to be 0.466. The indices for Mountain, Hill and Terai were estimated as 0.378, 0.5 10 and 0.474, respectively. On the regional basis, the mid-western (0.402) and far-western (0.385) had lower values than of national average showing the concentration of less productive economic activities there. Nearly four-fifths of the total population depends upon agriculture as its primary source of earning. Nearly four-fifths of all workers are also self- employed, almost all in the agricultural sector. Sixty-nine percent of the agricultural holdings, however, are less than one hectare in size. The agricultural GDP grew annually by only 2.3 percent dLuring the last two decades. Nepal is heading for the economic development with liberalization policy and has implemented various programs for eliminating the poverty and achieve rapid growth rate. Private sector has been encouraged and efforts are underway to generate more employment. Although, Nepal lacks modern development infrastructure and the income level of majority of the population is fairly low, the mountainous landscape has also offered diverse potentials for economic development. The major potential areas include : hydropower and tourism. On the otlher hand the Nepalese society has a tradition of maintaining the harmony and peace among various ethnic communities. The family and kinship networks providing the individuals with wide ranginig personnel relations as well as social security in difficult times. People continue diverse ritual and religious practices which give meaning to their life resulting in to a stability in the society. Crisis management is a very regular activity of the majority of the households. The key environmental issues of Nepal are related to forests, soil, solid waste, water, and air. The forests have decreased in both area coverage and density over previous decades. Landslides, soil erosion, floods, encroachment of forests by cultivated land and people for settlement, among others, have been responsible for this. The forest has also been under great pressure from the ever-increasing demand of the livestock population for grazing and fodder. Species of flora and fauna have also declined due to forest depletion. Nepal's mountains and hills are inllerently vulnerable to landslides and soil erosion. The rapid growth of hluman and livestock population is putting severe pressure on Nepal's natLural resources, especially soil. Deforestation, degradation of grasslands, encroachment of steep slopes, and intensive agriculture are leading to soil degradation. Unbalanced use of chemical fertilisers is also causing soil degradation through change in soil structure and acidification. Solid waste management problems are caused by the introduction of plastic materials and changing consumption patterns, especially in urban areas, and these have resulted in an increase in the volume of solid waste. Of the total waste generation in the country, solid waste made up about 83%, agricultural waste constituted 11%, and industrial waste accounted for 6% according to a recent survey. The major types of hazardous waste generated in the country are medical waste, battery wastes, pesticides, and a few types of industrial waste. The total consumption of pesticides in the country is approximately 55 tonnes of active ingredients per year. BHC, aldrin, and endosulfan are commonly used pesticides. Most unused pesticides are thrown on to open dumps. Obsolete pesticides are classified as hazardous waste. Currently, about 67 tonnes of obsolete pesticides are stockpiled in unsafe conditions at various locations in the country. Air quality, particularly in the large urban areas of Nepal, has deteriorated. The energy supply in Nepal conies largely from traditional sources suich as fuelwood, agricultural residues, and animal waste. Air pollution has had a direct impact on human health. Respiratory diseases increased from 10.9% of the total outpatient visits (5,167,378) in 1996 to 11.6% of the lotal outpatient visits (7,115,981) in 1998. The inhabitants of Nepal's mountain region are mIuch more vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of the burning of fuelwood in poorly ventilated houses. Hospital records show that a greater number of respiratory diseases occutned in the Lirban population than in the rural population; and this may be due to the smoke and dust emitted from vehicles and industries. Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) accounts for more than 30% of total deaths in children under five years of age. A significant proportion of tlle popuLlation, in both rural and tirban areas, is affected by bronchitis causedi by domestic smoke. Rivers and groundwater are major sources of drinking water in Nepal. Over time, the country's requirements for water for drinking and personal hygiene, agriculture, religious activities, industrial production, and hydropower generation have increased. Nepal's rural settlements and the majority of urban areas do not have access to sewerage networks. The domestic wastewater generated by these areas is discharged into local rivers without treatment. The decline in forest area reduced the water recharge capacity of groundwater sources. The water quality of rivers and lakes flowing through the large urban areas is deteriorating. The water quality of rivers flowing in remote areas is still acceptable. The quantity of water for household uses is severely limited and the quality of drinking water is poor in most cases, mainly due to the lack of treatment plants. The rivers are also major places for disposal of urban solid waste and industrial effluents. Realizing the fact that the drinking water is one of utmost basic needs, stronger emphasis has been given to the Water Supply and Sanitation (WATSAN) Sector in Nepal. His Majesty's Government of (HMG/N) defined the two key objectives of WATSAN development as: - xi - Increasingly utilise human resources for more prodLictive activities in the econonmy * Improve health status and welfare of the population by reducing incidence of water related diseases The ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002) had a target of providing access to piped water supply facilities to 100 percent of the national population while the sanitation coverage was expected to be at 40 percent level. The Government of Nepal and various development agencies have made strong commitments to provide access to both water supply and sanitation for entire populationi of Nepal during the last two five year plan periods. However, still a large section of population is still deprived of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning (MHPP) reports coverage of water supply and sanitation expected at the end of ninth plan (1997 - 2002) as 71.5 and 25 per cent, respectively. Guiding policies, regulations and standards The objective of carrying out EA of projects proposed for World Bank's financing is to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable and thus to improve decision making. As per the Bank's policy and requirement, EA is initiated as early as possible in project processing and is integrated closely with the economic, financial, institutional, social and technical analysis of a proposed project. The borrower is responsible for carrying out the EA. The Bank reviews the findings and recommendation of the EA to determnine whether they provide and adequate basis for processing the project for Bank financing. The proposed project RWSSP II, is expected to have a net positive impact on human population and the environment. In fact and in a broad sense, the objective of RWSSP Il is to enhance the environmental quality by reducing the traditional environmental risks. In case of any adverse impact on environmentally important areas such as wetlands, forests, grasslands antd other natural habitats, the mitigation measures can be designed and incorporate easily so as to improve the environmental performance. Thus as per the Word Bank's criteria, RWSSP II has been classified as Category B project. The projects falling under this category require a limited enviroinmeintal review to determine potential negative impacts, identify the appropriate mitigation measures and recognize the identification of opportunities for environmental assessment. His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMG/N) has enacted the Environment Protection Act, 2053 (1997) (EPA) and the Environment Protection Rules, 2053 (1997) (EPR). The EPA requires that an EA either in the form of an Initial Environmental Assessment (IEE) or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) shall be carried out for all proposed projects which meet the criteria listed in Schedules 1 and 2 in the EPR. While EIA has been described as a detailed study or evaluation of the adverse environmental impacts, IEE has been mentioned as a report on analytical study or evaluation. The EPA clearly outlines the concerned agency or the Ministry approval of the proposal as a prerequisites for the implementation of a project. The provisions are made such that a proponent must submit a project proposal accompanied by either TEE or EIA studies for the approval. EPR made a clear specification on the project proposals related to the drinking water supply and waste management facilities requiring cither TEE or ETA. - xii - Water Resources Act 2049 (1992) (WRA) has been implemented to make arrangements for the rational utlization, conservation, management and development of the water resources that are available in the Kingdom of Nepal in the form of surface water, underground water or in whatsoever form, and for determining beneficial uses of water resources, preventing environmental and other hazardous effects there of and also for keeping water resources free from pollution. Local Self-Governance Act, 2055 (1999) (LSGA) aims at having institutional development of local bodies capable of bearing responsibility, by providing such responsibility and power at the local level as is necessary to formulate and carry out plans, and to constitute local bodies for the development of the local self governance system in a manner that they are able to make decisions on the matters affecting the day to date needs and lives of the people, by developing local leadership. LSGA has specific provisions related to the rural water supply and sanitation projects. Other legislation related to water and environment in general include: Forest Act (1992), Pesticide Act, (1991), Solid Waste Act (1986), Soil and Water Conservation Act (1982), King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation Act (1982), Tourism Act (1978), and National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act (1973). Article 7 of Environment Protection Act 2053 (1997) has made the clear provisions regarding the Environmental Standards. The major issues related the water quality standards are: various national surveys indicated that the types of water sources and the sanitation affecting the quality of water consumed are primarily responsible for increased or decreased diarrhea incidences among children, there are still many unserved areas with water supply and sanitation facilities, the meaning of safe drinking watcr has been limited to accessibility of water at home / or at nearby place, from piped supply lines or boreholes and hand pumps, and vast majority of households is reported to use water for drinking without any further treatment (ex-boiling). Whatever may be the source of supply and the surface water quality data indicated that the sources where human activities are less prominent are found to be of chemically good quality and fit for direct drinking except bacteria, suspended solids, and in some cases iron have to be removed effectively. This indicates that the major water quality problems are related to fecal contamination and seasonal attributes (turbidity in rainy season). In the past the water quality issues have been addressed by 'source selection principle'. The tenth plan (2002-2007) has a strategy of developing the national water quality guideline. WHO guidelines are to be followed till national standards on drinking water quality will be finalized. The water supply and sanitation sector would contribute to the national goal of poverty alleviation by providing basic social service to people and infrastructure for economic development. CuLrrently following issues and challenges are in water supply and sanitation sector. * No match between the target and the amotnt of resources available for the development of the sector * Large number of rural water supply schemes in implementation / lack of potential will and commitment * Lack of co-ordination between the various organizations involved in the sector - xiii - . Urban water supply system nin on operational subsidies, but rural schemes are maintained and sustained by users * Unavailability of perennial water sources in the proximity Principle of cost recovery in urban areas has not been effective. Promotion of Private sector participation needs to be given due attention . Infonnation management system in the sector is poor. A sound coordinating mechanism is lacking Need for increased awareness on health, hygiene and sanitation Nced for redefinition and delineation of appropriate roles and responsibilities Need for a strong regulatory body to monitor the performance of both the public and private sector Realizing these issues and challenges, recent policy reforms have been made in the water supply and sanitation sector. Provisions for private sector involvement in urban water supply management have also been made. A national sanitation policy has been formulated by the govemment and is in process of cabinet approval. The objectives of the sector in Tenth Plan are as follows: * To provide basic water supply service to 85% of rural and 95% of urban population of the country by the end of plan period so that the total population served by the water supply will reach 86.6 %. * To provide basic sanitation facilities to 50% of population * To upgrade water supply service levels To promote private sector involvement in management of urban water systems * To assist women by providing opportunities for social and personality development The agencies involved in water supply and sanitation sector are: Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS), Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board (RWSSFDB), Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB), INGOs, NGOs and CBOs, Local government agencies (VDC and DDC) and Users Committees. Impact identification and mitigation measures Because of the proposed country wide coverage of RWSSP II, the distinct topographical and climatological variations and the demand responsive nature of the schemes, the environmental impacts identified and listed in this study are not specific but of general in nature. The identified environmental impacts are classified in to two categories : impacts caused by the proposed project to the surroundings and the socio-economy, and the impacts caused by the exogenous factors to the services and facilities provided by the project. Proposed individual interventions are targeted to cover only a few hundred houselholds. Therefore, no major environmental impacts to the surroundings are expected due to this project primarily due to small scale intervention. The net positive impact or benefits include: the water supply and sanitation projects will reduce the traditional environmental risks, more quantity of water available for bathing, washing and cleaning, the healtlh conditions will be improved, the personal health and hygiene status and sanitary conditions of the households will be improved, time and energy of the women and children required to fetch the water will be saved. - xiv - The environmental impacts caused by various exogenous factors which will impair the sustainability of the project and intended services include the supply deficit, deterioration of water quality and problems created by improper use of the built facilities. These impacts are described below in details. Significant reduction of the source discharge for the piped gravity flow system particularly during the dry season is a major concern regarding the issues on water quantity. However, this has been mentioned as a regular phenomena and also anticipated during the design period. It is recommended that an assessment be made if the dry yield is enough to meet the demand variation which emerge during the life time of the project. While selecting the sources emphasis must be given to select the one which has a higher safe yield (dry yield) to measuired yield ratio. If found necessary, use of alternative sources such as rainwater harvesting, recycling of greywater could be considered as a mitigation measure. The issue of considering the animal demand might develop more pressure in RWSSP II as of the mirco-credit schemes and expansion of community forestry activities. It is recommended to make specific analysis if animal demands need to be considered in the proposed schemes. Expansion of rural infrastructures lead to enhance the quality of life of rural people. This will encourage the people to construct their own latrines and bathrooms. Water use will be made more easy and readily accessible for example by installing the water tanks at individual households. With the improved quality of life, a hligher demand of water is expected, therefore, the present criteria of a minimum of 25 Ipcd and an average of 45 Ipcd must be reviewed. In order to manage the occasional contamination from leaves, minute organic matters, insects, leech, algae, tadpole, small fish, Balu, Rato Juka and snail, the following mitigation measures are suggested: periodic clearance of the premises and buffer zones, periodic cleaning of the screen, ensure no faults or gaps during the slab construction and positioning. Due to very small size of water supply schemes, financial limitations and operational constraints, it is not considered possible to provide comprehensive water treatment undcr RWSSP II. The conventional approach of'safe source selection' applied in Nepal could still be the best alternative. Precautionary measures such as: avoiding the first flush, water boiling for drinking, restricting open defecation at upstream areas could be employed. However, in special situations low-cost treatment options such as slow sand filter and roughing filters could be employed. To tackle the contamination issues related to water collection and use, specific measures such as installation of pulley system or integrated well-hand pump systems and general measures of awareness are recommended. Proposed intervention to provide end disposal to the wastewaters include: recycling in the kitchen garden or paddy fields and disposal at soak pit. In Terai area, if there is not enough clearance between the point of disposal of effluent and the groundwater table or where the water table is very high other options such as use of constructed wetlands shoLuld be considered. - xv - It is recommended to include stepping stone soling and establish dry stone side walls in the hilly areas and gravelling of the inner walkways in the Terai region. Similarly, engineered facilities must he suggested to the users to take care of the animals. RWSSP I has made some interventions regarding the use of composting pit, disposal of animal wastes, separation and disposal of solid wastes from the household premises. Efforts are essential to make these activities more comprehensive not only during the project implementation period but also during life-span of the project. Similarly, it is essential to disseminate the information about good practices, scientific methods of household management, kitchen management, animal keeping and disposing the wastes. Audio video, poster, broclhures and radio program may help to carry out these activities. There must be an effective and sustainable awareness campaign for school children specially to disseminate the information of: maintaining a sanitary system in schools, maintaining the containers for keeping anal cleansing water and transporting water from the tap, proper ways of sitting on the squat pan and ways of keeping the toilet clean. In Nepal, the traditional concepts in using the natural resources are interlinked with many festivals, rituals and group activities. In water resources people carry out these activities as they consider water to be a valuable resource without which the life and existence would be impossible. The belief behind such activities is to ensure the sustainability of the source, protection of healtlh and well being and the invitation to rain. They consider the water sources as holy places which are protected, trees are planted and people have ethical, morale and spiritual obligations to not damage the resources. Thus the negative impacts of the new project could he: possibility of discontinuation of traditional rituals and festivals, possibility of discontinuation of the old values and beliefs of considering the water sources as places of spiritual importance, possibility of discontinuation of practices of conserving the source and catchmenit area by plantation etc., possibility of discontinuation of the practices of not polltuting (defecating, washing etc) the sources of water considered as holy places and possibility of discontinuation of the beliefs that no one should damage or destroy the resources around holy places. The mitigation measures for these impacts could be: assessment of such practices during project plan, protection of old system (spout, stone tap etc. and other resources of archaeological and environmental importance around the system), develop facilities for doing such rituals in new schemes, develop a strategy that the proposed project provides a recognition and respect to the old practices, encouraging the users to continue such rituals and festivals either at the protected old sources or at the appropriate locations of the new schemes and encouraging the users to consider the new system only as more efficient and productive than the old one and they should keep on their practices. Planning phase impacts include the conflicts of water supply rights and priority. Similarly the problems may also arise during the land acquisition. The conflicts must be resolved prior to the project implementation by developing a consensus based on the existing legislation. Compensatory measures must be adopted for the land acquired. Construction phase impacts include damage to the vegetation, pollution due to construction wastes, loss of stability at the sand/ stone collection center and health risks to the porters. These impacts are site specific and pose only short tenn implications. Still, the impacts could be minimized by confining the construction activities onsite and along the designated pipeline routs. The construction wastes are not expected to have significant impact on land and ground or surface water sources. However, attention should be paid to ensure the proper disposal. - xvi - Construction of project components in the community forestry areas might create disturbances to the forest users and forestry resources. It is recommended that a mutual understanding be developed with the user groups of the forest and impacts are minimized. Laying of the pipeline in the lake water might cause disturbances to the lake water users. As the lake serves a major means of transportation and recreation, proper means (let the pipe be submerged and put at the considerable depth) be applied to mitigate the impact. Alternative analysis An attempt is made to systematically compare the three alternatives: 'no project', 'project without considering the environmental elements' and 'project incorporating the environmental attributes'. As the socio-economic indicators such as infant mortality rates and life expectancy rate indicate that more interventions are essential to improve the quality of life of the people. These indicators reflect a relatively worse situation of health and sanitation and as well the socio-economy in the rLral areas. Water supply and sanitation facilities are directly linked to the health conditions in particular and socio-economy in general. If the program under discussion, RWSSP II, will not be implemented and the anticipated schemes under RWSSP II will not be undertaken, then the prevailing traditional environmental risks in rural areas will be continued till DWSS or any other agency will address the issue and make similar interventions. In conclusions, the 'no project' scenario will only maintain the status-quo. The second option is project without considering the environmental attributes. In the past, the concepts in which the establishment of rural water supply and sanitation schemes has been based are: bringing the remotely located water to communities in order to meet the their hardship and the prevention of water borne diseases. The projects did not completely address the environmental issues of ecological integrity of the natural watershed and sources including flora and fauna and the link of water use to the sanitation and personal hygiene issues. Similarly, the mobilization of community strength and not transferring the ownership of the projects to the users were other issues which lacked the attention in the conventional approach. These issues are critical and without addressing them it is difficult to meet the objective of the sustainability of the schemes. Thus, the development without addressing the associated environmental issues may reduce the traditional risks for a certain duration but it will be difficult to maintain a stable state of risk levels. The positive benefits of projects falling in this category may be undermined with the adverse environmental implications. The third scenario of implementing the projects addressing the environmental issues will be able to reduce the risks as desirable by the project objectives. The development with such projects will reduce the risks and maintain them at a minimum level. With the address of environmental issues both quantity and quality of the delivered services are ensured. The project takes care of the emerging future demands. Holistic approach which attempts to address the water supply, sanitation and environmental issues together is followed. The proposed project, RWSSP I1 is a demand-driven and integrated one addressing the environmental issues as well. The positive benefits are fully ensured by taking care of the environmental impacts with the development incorporating the mitigation measures. Strong participation from the community and the support organizations during project planning and implementation will not create the problems related to the ownership and responsibility of - xvii - operation and maintenance of the schemes. Thus it is expected that RWSSP II will achieve greater healtlh and economic benefits to the target commLunities. The alternatives for project comiponienits ar-c also givCnI. Mitigation plan and moniitoring Envir-onmiiienital Management Plan (EMP) aims to develop a framework for incorporatinig the mitigationi measures in the projcct cyclc and monitorinig of the environmental performance. The EMP is expected to not only redLuce the negative environmental impacts botlh due to thie project comlponlents and catuscd by cxogcnous factors on the services delivered by thc projcct, buLt will also help to enhlance the environmental benefits of the project. The activities menitionied in EMP hiave been categorized in three grotups as discussed below. * Policy and Technical gtideline related activities o Reviewing the criteria of 25 and 45 Ipcd o Developing a strategy for incorporating the animal demand o Developing a methodology for forecasting the demand pattern o IntroduLction and selection of water quality monitoring kits o Developing surrogate water quality monitoring parameters o Developing type clesign of low cost water treatment options o Engineering design of soak pits, construLcted wetlands and paved walkways o Engineering design of rehabilitation and protection of traditional soLurces o Selection of adaptive, resilient and holistic principle based technologies o Developing appropriate means to collect the water fronm dug well * Sclheme specific activities o Water souLrce related conflicts resolutioln o Developing a consensus on voluntary contribution of land o Disposing constrLuction related wastes o Periodic cleaning of the vegetation in the component premises o Periodic clcaning of the plhysical infrastructures o Monitor-ing biological water pollution * Traininig and capacity building related activities o Disseminiatin-g the information of appropriate sanitary practices to users and school children o Disseminating the infonnation of the proper use of the water supply and sanitary components o Ways to provide water and bath to animals o Using the toilets, keeping good sanitary conditions in the kitchen and housc premises o Encouraginig the ulsers to continue traditional rituals and festivals at the water sources The major responsibility for implementing the policy related activities fall under thc jLirisdictioni of the FuLnd Board. Where as the WUC hias to play a major role in implementing the schemiie specific activities. It is the SO/SA whiclh need to take the lead for the training andc capacity buiilding activities. - xviii - As the specific scheme under consideration may not have all the impacts identified. Tlherefore, it will be essential to sort out from the list, the specific activities to be carried in a specific scheme under RWSSP TI. It is recommended to develop a scheme specific Environmental Management Action Plan (EMAP) during the pre-development stage. The EMAP should be developed primarily with the purpose of: * Identification of key environmental issues likely to arise from the implementation of the water supply and sanitation scheme under consideration. * Identification of the corresponding environmental mitigation measures to be integrated in the project design in order to minimise the impacts. * Development of monitoring and evaluation schedules to be implemented during project construction and operation. * Estimation of costs that are required for implementing mitigation measures. The EMAP should provide guidelines to the construction and operation activities and the cost outlined in EMAP should be included in the Engineering Cost Estimate document. Various indicators could be used to monitor the environmental performance of the water supply and sanitation projects. The three types of the indicators are described below. Baseline Monitoring Water quality related : source discharge, groundwater table variation, per capita water availability, other physical and biological paramters Impact Monitoring Health and sanitation related : number of diarrhea cases in children below 5 years of age, other water borne diseases, house cleanliness, drainage conditions, no. of latrines added every year, conditioni of the latrine in school Socio-economy related : per capita income, savings from micro-credit schemes, no. of children attending school Tradition and culture related : rituals and festivals carried out at water sources Compliance Monitoring Water quantity related : per capita water use Water quality related : incidence of contamination with insects, leech, tadpole etc., microbiological parameter, physical chemical parameters (turbidity, pH, iron, fluoride, manganese, ammonia/nitrate, arsenic, residual chlorine) Modifications and additions suggested to RWSSFDB formats Based on the findings of this study modifications and additions in the existing RWSSFDB formats such as pre-feasibility form, pre-feasibility site appraisal form, development phase proposal and project implementation proposals are suggested. - xix - CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 General With an objective of providing water supply and sanitation facilities to the rural population of Nepal, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Phase II (RWSSP II) has been proposed by the Rtural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board (RWSSFDB). The project will receive financial assistance from International Development Association (IDA). RWSSP If is plannled to implement the rural water and sanitation activities in one hand, while on the other hand to empower the rLural communities essential for the enhancement of socio- cconiomy. The plroject aims at socio-economic development of deprived rural commuLnities throuLghl the developmenit of basic infrastructures. Social mobilization and organization of the communities is defined as the starting point in the project. Community participation at all levels of project planning, implementation and operation has been identified as the pre- requisite for the development of the schemes under RWSSP II. Targeting the poor and ensurinig the equity and gender balance would be the underlying principles of this project. The proposed project is within the framework of the national policy on water supply and sanitation (WATSAN) sector in Nepal. The proponent of the project, RWSSFDB or the FuLnd Board has been identified as a major stakeholder of the WATSAN sector in Nepal. The tenth nationial plan (2002-2007) of Nepal has a target of improving the socio-economic indicators significantly by providing water supply and sanitation facilities to 95 % and 50 % of the population in Nepal. The proposed project RWSSP II is expected to hiave a significant contribution to achieve this goal. The Ftund Board provides assistance to the rural communities througlh Support Organisations (SOs). SOs are private or national / international NGOs, community based organizations (CBOs) or co-operative agencies. The communities with a support from SOs manage the planning, inmplemcntation and operation of the projects focusing particularly on1 community awareness, planning and training aspects of the projects. The objectives of the Board activities in water supply and sanitation sector are to: deliver sustainable hiealtlh and hygienie services throuiglh improvement in water supply and sanitation, improve incomes of women through time saving as water is brought closer to their dwellings, and improve the capabilities of sector institution both government and non-govemnment. The working principles of the Board include: demand lead or responsive participatory approach, ensuring the sustainability of the projects by increasing the community capacity, considering women users as primary actors of water and sanitation and enhanicing their role in the project and decision making through active participation, integrating hygiene and sanitation edtucation with technically, environmenitally and operationally sustainable water supply. 1.2 Justification of the study The prime objective of the water supply and sanitation facilities is to reduce the health risks associated witlh the diseases such as diarrhea, scabies, schistosomiasis and malaria. The main health benefits of these services lie in the reduction of fecal-oral diseases. As the mortality rate due to water borne diseases is still very high in Ncpal, establishment of sustainable water supply projects plays a crucial role. It is a well understood fact that the hardware by itself is not enough and, therefore, softwares which include creating awareness, capacity building and -1I- manpower training are also equally important. Sustainable water supply and sanitation projects have many indirect socio-economic benefits. Rural people save the time of carrying water and use it for other productive jobs wlhich help them to increase their income. While developing the water supply and sanitation projects, a demanid driven participatory approach has been practiced in Nepal in recent years. This community based approach has helped in empowering the niral communities which has been proved successful in community water supply and sanitation projects having the multiple similar effects in other sectors also such as community forestry and micro-financing. These participatory projects and activities have significantly contributed in raising the per capita income and the quality of life of the rural people. On this background and similar to other water supply and sanitation projects, the anticipated oultputs of RWSSP II are the positive health and environmental benefits through the supply of 'safe' drinking water and creation of sanitary conditions in the community settlements. Howevcr, a number of adverse impacts could occur, if the schemes are not properly planned, located, designed, constructed, operated and maintained (FDBb, 2002). Potential negative impacts, both individual or cumulative, include: - Hydraulic interference between existing and new well sources. Source tapping may deny water to previous tusers of the source not connected to the scheme, particularly downstream tusers; - Induced erosion caused by pipe laying, general construction activities, deforestation, improper drainage, and overflow of reservoirs or other components - Increased water use without adequate wastewater disposal may cause pollution problems and mosqulito breeding; as would ponded water around water points - Shallow aquifers may be contaminated due to poor quality, well head construction and the siting of latrines close to well points. In addition to these, the other issues of negative impacts may include: increased health risks due to specific contaminants for example arsenic and impairment to the traditional culture and customs related to water use. There are a number of environmental issues to be takeni which do not feature prominently at policy or implementation level (FDBb, 2002). This is because of the fact that some of the issues are very specific and not noticeable at the time of planning or implemenitationl but crop-up later. The environmental risks associated could be avoided or minimized with careful planning and design. Thus in ordcr to ensure the environmental sustainability of the project, it is essential to address these issues and identify potential mitigating measures. Environment Assessment Study and consequent preparation of Environmental Management Plan (EMP) meet these goals. 1.3 Objectives of the environmental study The key objective of the Environment Assessment (EA) Study is to recommend measures for enhancing and sustaining the positive environmental benefits of the project. Appropriate meastures to mitigate any identified adverse environmental impacts will be integrated as part of the overall project design (FDBc, 2002). - 2 - Specific objectives of the EA are: - identify and assess the existing environmental issutes (with a focus on water quantity and q1uality issues, personal hygiene, health, household environment and sanitation, and environmental sanitation issues) and how these issues will be addressed through the variouLs activities / tasks under the proposed project; and - recommend an Environniental Management Plan (EMP), including well-defined performanace indicators for the identified issues 1.4 Methodology and activities The employed metlhodology and the activities carried out for the study were as follows: * Review of relevant doctuments of RWSSP I (tlhe web page, annual reports, monitoring and evaluation forms, documents related to specific schemes, technical manual, formationi order, newsletters, brochture etc.) * Review of relevant policy documents (World Bank's policy, Enivironmental Act and Regulations, Water Resource Act, Local Self Governance Act etc.) * Discussion and meetings with the Fund Board Staff, SOs , WUGs and WUCs * Consultation with DWSS, Department of Forestry and Soil Conservation, National Soil Research Council, Ministry of Population and Environment, Department of Statistics etc. * Field visits to four-teen selected schemes in seven districts (details given on Appendix A and Appendix B) * Questionniiaire Survey * Presentation of the field report and findings to the Funld Board Staff and discussion * Organising a stakeholder's workshop to get the feedback on the report 1.5 Organisation and members of the stuidy team With anl aim of contributing to the environmenital sLustainability of the water supply and sanlitation schicimles, the Fund Board designed an 'Environment Assessment' study for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, Phase II and invited proposals from individual constultants. Consequently, the contract for consultancy services was signed between the Mr. Raj Babu Shrestha, Executive Director of Funld Board and Dr. Nawa Raj Khatiwada, Principal Investigator for the study on May 20, 2002. T'he client has designated Mr. Raj Babu Shrestlia, Executive Director as Client's Coordinator; the Coordinator will be responsible for the coordination of activities under this contract. The personnel comprising the study team and their responsibilities are given below. Technical / Managerial Staff Name Position Task Dr. Nawa Raj Khatiwada Principal Investigator (PI) Carry out all essential activities Mr. Bidur Adhikari Assistant to PI Secretarial work Helping PI in logistics during the field and desk study -3 - CHAPTER II DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT 2.1 Introduction The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board (the Board) was created by His Majesty's Government of Nepal on March 14, 1996 with the approval of formation by lHis Majesty's Govemment under the Development Board Act, 1956. The Board is designed based on the experience of a field testing pilot project, acronymed 'JAKPAS' (the Nepali acronym of JCnCcita Ko Khanepani Ra Sarsafai Karyakram - meaning People's Water Supply and Sanitation Program). Preparation studies for the pilot project were carried out with funding by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and a grant from Japanese Grant Facility (JGF). The World Bank executed the pilot project for a period of three years, during 1993-96, financed by two additional JGF grants. JAKPAS was instrumental for the Government of Nepal to institute a service delivery mechanism to deliver sustainable water supply and sanitation services. Encouraged by the optimistic results of JAKPAS activity and with thc support form Intemational Development Association (IDA), the Board launched a five year (1996- 2001) project called Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Phase I (RWSSP I, Cr. 2912-NEP). The project had a goal of providing water supply and sanitation services for 900 communities in four batches. The RWSSP I has a coverage of the following districts (Fig. 2. 1). Eastern Development Region: Dhankuta, Ilam, Jhapa, Khotang, Morang, Panchthar, SankhuLwasabha, Saptari, Siraha, Solukhumbu and Udayapur. Centtral Development Region: Bara, Bhaktapur, Chitawan, Dhading, Dhanusha, Dolakha, KathmandLu, Kavre, Lalitpur, Mahottari, Makawanpur, Nuwakot, Parsa, Ramechhap, Rasujwa, Rauitahat, Sarlalhee, Sindhuli and Sindhupalchowk. PWesterni Development Region: Arghakhanchi, Baglung, Gorkha, Gulmi, Kapilbastu, Kaski, Lamjunlg, Myagdi, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Parbat, Rupandehi, Syanja and Tanahu. Mild-Western Development Region: Dailekh, Dang, Pyuthan and Surkhet. Ftar- Westerni Development Regioni Kailali. RWSSP I has been implemented in a batch wise basis. The Batch wise coverage is given below (Table 2.1). Total Population to be benefited from the four phased implementation is expected to be 800,000. The working principles of RWSSP I included: a demand lead participatory approach, increase community capacity to sustain the project, enhancement of the role of women in all aspects of the project, and integration of hygiene and sanitation education with technically, environmentally and operationally sustainable water supply. T'his strategy and the results of the implementation of RWSSP I obtained so far provided a good example in the sector of water supply and sanitation in Nepal towards the implementation of the policy of decentralized service delivery with greater private sector involvement. RWSSP I also illustrated the benefits and opportunities obtained through the institutional development and an alternative service delivery approach. - 4 - Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Area-200 1 I O Dfoicct Coewq. by &dt n J t i ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~B-i B-ll 9-lil B-Nv y SU_ t_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Egi en a I < ~~~~~~~~~~~t ~~~~~~Cer*rk a 1 5 1 8 1 6 Coverud totl of 49 d_ia I. Batch I Schemes 1Schemes in Batch 2. Batch III Schemes Addional Schemes in Batch 11 3. Batch III Sdcmes tional Schemes in Batch Ill 4. Batch V Schemes g Expected Additional Sdcemes in Batch IV Fig. 2.1 Coverage of RWSSP I -5 - Table 2.1 : Batch wise coverage of the projects under RWSSP I (FDBa, 2002) Batch component Development Region No. of Schemes* Batch I Central & Western 76 Batch 11 Central & Western 206 Batch ITI Eastern, Central & Western 289 Batch IV All 5 Development regions 359 * The figures were updated during the time of final report submission The concept and approach of RWSSP I are found to be sound and yielding successful results on the ground with indications of strong community ownership and commitment which paved a way for scheme sustainability. With the tangible outputs obtained and witlh an objective of providing the services to the remaining rural areas of Nepal, the Fund Board has proposed a follow-on project of RWSSP I, termed as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Phase 11 (RWSSP II). The conceptual framework, institutional structure and the implementation arrangement of RWSSP II will be similar to RWSSP I. However, the project will incorporate the lessons learned and more functions are expected to be sub-contracted to qualified and competent private / NGO sectors in different regions. 2.2 Project objectives The project tinder discussion aims to influence the broader sector institutional performance by leveraging tlhe success of RWSSP I as well as expanding the proven impact of this approach on poverty reduction and social capital mobilization at the grassroots level. The specific objectives of RWSSP II are (FDBb, 2002): - improve the sector instittutional performance and mainstream the approach taken by the Fund Board in the Government system and - deliver sustainable health and hygiene benefits to the rural population througl improvements in water supply and sanitation facilities. It is expected that the impact of the actions meeting the first objective will be in the policy framework for delivery of services leading to the role of Government line agencies be changed to facilitator from the implementing authority. The impact of the actions meeting the second objective, which would be similar to RWSSP 1, will be in improving the health conditions of general public, empowering the women and saving their time for income generating activities and strengthening the governmental as well as non-governmental capacity in delivering the services. 2.3 Project components There are three basic components of RWSSP II. - Strengthening operational and institutional capabilities of the Board - 6 - The project intends to have a two fold objectives as outlined above and the overall responsibility of implementation of the project lies within the Board. Therefore, the project will help the Board to mature into an effective institution, consolidate the outcomes of RWSSP I and expand the scope of work. The legislation is expected to be revised to make the organization more autonomous which may allow the Board to take on schemes supported by other donors too. - Selection and construction of schemes This component includes community development activities and construction of water supply and sanitation facilities. Similar to RWSSP I, the proposed project would promote active participation of the communities in all stages of decisions about the planning, construction, and management of their scheme, to increase local ownership and effective use and sustainability. These activities are capacity-building activities such as community mobilization/organization and non-fonnal education; hygiene and sanitation education; and technical support services to women. Construction of water supply schemes would include gravity flow systems (including spring protection), shallow and deep ttubewells, dug wells, and catchment protection. - Study reports This component includes pre-development phase studies, monitoring and perforrnance evaluation studies, payment monitoring studies, preparing documents at the beginning and after completion of the schemes, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) studies, and other independent audits. 2.4 Project policy parameters The Board is supervised and managed by seven Board members comprising of four Government's Joint-secretaries, two professionals representing non-government sector and one representing private sector. The chairperson of the Board is elected for a three-year term from among the seven Board members. The Board policies are implemented by the head office. The head office consists of forty-four staff which include six managers, nineteen officers ( including fifteen portfolio managers) and nineteen support staff. The Board will be responsible for Board policy and for monitoring its implementation. All necessary powers to approve the budgets, programs, and plans, and to approve the selection of support organizations and schemes would be conferred on the Board to allow it to work in a flexible and fully accountable manner. The Board will be responsible for project implementation. The Board will subcontract with support organizations and communities that meet eligibility criteria (defined in the rules of the Board Formation Order) to assist beneficiary communities to plan and implement water supply and sanitation schemes that meet established eligibility criteria. The Board will contract service agencies (SAs) for activities suchi as project promotion, training, appraisal, monitoring and evaluation, research and development, and auditing of Board accounts. It would also be responsible for administering all project-funded studies. The overall responsibility for implementation would be with the Board. The implementation arrangements for RWSSP II would be very similar to RWSSP I. As per the Board policy, the communities assisted by SOs will plan design, implement, operate and maintain their - 7 - schemes. The communities, with support from SOs , will register a Water User Group (WUG) which comprises of al the participating households and form a Water User Committee (WUC), the executive body of the WUG. The scheme cycle (Fig. 2.2) from identification to completion was on average 36 months for RWSSP I. The 'pre-development' phase lasts for 13 months to identify SOs and schemes that meet the eligibility criteria to enter into a 'development phase'. The 'development phase' lasts for 10 months and include the development of a community action plan to carry out a need assessment, training in hygiene and sanitation education, non-formal education and registering the WUGs and promotion and building of latrines. The 'implementation phase' lasts fir about 13 months and begins after an audit of the development phase. This phase is mainly focused on construction activities of the scheme components. Pre-development Phase Selection of Sos, pre-feasibility studies, submission of proposals, 13 months scheme approval, preparation of development phase contract Community organisation and mobilization, formation and Development Phase registration of WUG, Up-front capital cost contribution in Cash, 10 months O&M fund collection, Community Action Planning, HSE initiation, training of SO staff and community, Preparation of implementation phase contract Iplem-enitation Phase Construcetion work, HSE, WTSS plan execution, training to SO 13 monthis staff and community, KAP impact study and Technical Audit Sustainable water supply and sanitation Fig. 2.2 The Project cycle under RWSSP I 2.5 Project area Since the project, RWSSP II, adopts a demand driven approach, it is not possible at this stage to identify the specific schemes and number of districts that the schemes will cover. However, it is expected that the likely areas are the uncovered villages of the 49 districts where RWSSP I has been implemented and the remaining 26 districts of the Kingdom of Nepal. The project will now reach out to development regions such as the Far West and Mid West and build capacity of both SOs and communities in those regions also. 2.6 Anticipated benefits The proposed project is estimated to benefit some 700, 000 (in the rural, mountains, hill and the Terai) people in the five development regions of Nepal. Of this, women / girls would constitute more than 50% and would be the primary beneficiaries of the project (FDBb, 2002). Similar to tlhe foregoing project, RWSSP II would also contribute to institutional strengthening of local NGOs and private sector firms by building the capacity of their staff as -8- well as introducing systematic office and personal management practices which are essential for them to work with the Board and communicate with the community. 2.7 Project cost The cost break down as per the project components follows. The component operational and institutional strengthening of the Board will take US$ 6.0 million. Similarly, the costs of the components selection and construction of schemes and studies have been estimated to be US$18.0 million and US$ 1.0 million. Thus the total cost of the project is given as US$ 25.0 million. 2.8 Environmental attributes of RWSSP I Annual report 2000/2001 of the Fund Board reports that on the completion of Batch III phase, 570 communities (population of 333073) are served by gravity schemes and 28 communities (population of 31975) are served by the schemes withdrawing water from ground sources (FDBe, 2002). On the average basis gravity piped flow schemes serve 96 households with average population of 585 where as the ground water scheme serve 284 households with an average population of 1618. The report further pointed that the average pipe length of the gravity scheme is of 5.6 km with an average transmission pipe line of 2.38 km. The average per capita scheme based on the current population is Rs 2245.00. The sanitation conditions around drinking water sources of the completed schemes were found to be quite impressive as shown in Table 2.2. Table 2.2 Sanitary conditions around selected drinking water sources (FDBe, 2002) Sanitary condition Before project (%) After project (%) Accumulation of wastewater 26.68 1.79 Dcfecation by people 7.17 0.11 Defecation by animal 18.6 2.8 Washing and bathing 92.15 58.29 Similarly, a survey indicated the time saved for fetching water per household per day for drinking and non drinking purpose were estimated as 130.3 and 105.3 minutes, respectively. The time saved has been found to be used for different activities as shown in Table 2.3. The project was found to be instrumental in creating the awareness of the causes of diarrhea. A survey of 837 households indicated that only 71.68 per cent of the households had the such awareness before the project, however the number of such respondents were found to be 84.95% after the project completion (FDBe, 2002). The changes in personal sanitation practices were found to be quite significant as shown in Table 2.4. 9- Table 2.3 Use of Saved time in fetching water by the respondents (FDBe, 2002) Activities Number Percent Childcare 315 15.87 Family care 369 18.59 Household work 267 13.45 Increase earning 542 27.30 Sanitation 492 24.79 Total 1985 100 Table 2.4 Changes in personal sanitation practices (FDBe, 2002) Categories Percent Before project After project Food covered 54.12 93.67 Eating stale food 73.00 69.35 Eating stale food after heating 27.08 65.35 Eating raw fruit / veg. after cleaning 58.42 89.84 Cleaning cooking and eating-pots 76.11 95.46 Covering water keeping pots 22.22 82.68 Toilet at home 21.62 71.80 Regular use of toilets 20.91 71.21 Use of toilets with sandals/shoes 23.30 68.34 Washing hands before meals 71.68 98.21 Washing hands after toilet 55.00 75.27 Brushing teeth regularly 64.28 94.74 Clipping nails regularly 58.18 90.92 Healthy home survey has been carried out to identify health and sanitation situation of the community of all the schemes of Batch - I, II and III. So far in Batch I to III, a total of 626 Village Health Promoters (VHPs) have been selected and trained, and now are actively involving motivating community to built household latrines, involving personal household and environmental sanitation at the community. With the assistance of these VHPs, about 4, 240 different health and sanitation education (HSE) sessions have been conducted. The annual - 10- report 2000/2001 indicated that a total of 16, 652 household latrines were constructed. Of the constructed latrines, about 58% are built from the Sanitation Revolving Loani Fund (SRLF) which is establislhed and run by WUG witlh assistance of the project, and rest is self help. About 90% of the latrines were found to be clean and maintained well and 100% of them were bl-oUght in practice. Likewise a total of 177 institutional latrines have been constructed in 177 diff'erenit scllools uinder the schemes of Batch I to III. In order to create awareness amonig stLidents on health and sanitation and make school environment clean, 640 different schools healtlh and sanitation campaigns, rally, game and other sanitation related activities hlave been organizcd in Batclh I to III at the sclhools. 2.9 Water quality assessment of RWSSP I Schemes A sumnmiiary of the water quality parameters from the schemes of RWSSP I is given in T'able 2.5 (RWSSFDB, 2002). The number of sampled sources is indicated on the bottom of tlle table. Twenty eiglht districts were covered by the sampling survey. It shIould be noted 1ecIC that tlhere is also a temporal and spatial variability in water quality parameters. Therefore, a careful interlretation is needed to analyse such data. The water quality data were obtainied from the sources that were more susceptible to the biological contamination. For a quick comparison of the water quality parameters, WHO guidelinie values are also given on Table 2.5. The paramiieter exceeding the guideline values and of concern are turbidity, iron, maniganiese, ammonia, nitrate, and fecal coliforms. It is important to note here that the presence of fecal coliform values in high numbers is a major concern. Even the spring sources are loLund to have bacteriological contamination. This is critical during the beginning of rainy season whcln the fecal matter scattered in the catchment area gets transported to the soLurce increasing thc risks of water borne diseases. The mitigation measures of the pollution due to this 'First liislh' phenomena are suggested in later chapters. Conltaminlatioll of groundwater due to arsenic in Terai area is an emerging water quality issLue in Nepal. It is estimated that about half of country's population of 23 million reside in Terai area. Based on the various investigation and research stLudies, TanduLkar and Neku (2002) reported that 27 % of thlis population (2.6 million) is exposed to an arsenic concentrationi of greater tlhan WHO drinking water guideline value of 10 ktg/L. The researclhers furtlhcr reported that 4 % of this population (3 96, 000) is exposed to a concentration of greater tlhan the Inter-imii Standard of 50 Ftg/L. Most affected areas include Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi and Kapilbastu districts. It is important to note here that the risks by drinkinig arsenic contaminated water include upto getting skin cancer. Khatiwada et al. (2002a) estimated that by drinking the water contaminated with arsenic at a level of 0.3 mg/L for 60 years, there will be additional 17500 cancer cases out of one million people. Tlis risk is reduced to levels of 3000 per one million and 600 per one million at exposure levels of concentrations 50 pLg/L (Nepal Interim Standard) and 1 0 ptg/L (WHO Guideline value). Slhrestlha et al. (2002) provided additional information on the arsenic contamination in Nepal particuLlarly in Terai region. The outcome of this study is shown in Fig. 2.2. The results obtained by this study is in close agreement with the results obtained by Tandukar and Neku (2002) as discussed above. The results obtained by the former study are also shown in Table 2.6. It is inter-estinig to note herc that the maximum concentration recorded has been 2.8 mg/L wliclh is far greater thani eitlher WHO guideline valuc or Nepal Interim Standard. - 11 - Table 2.5: Water Quality Data of Surface as well as Ground water in Nepal S. N. Parameters __WHO Limits __Surface water ______Ground Water ____ - - _____ -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spring Stream Sprin FdSt~ream Hand Pump Dugwell ___ Artisian -______ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~Max Min Avg Max Min Avg Max Min Avg~ Max Min Av Max Min Max ~Min Ay A Physical A "~ysis -- . -- _ _ _ .. _ _ _ _ _ - .- - - _ _ _ -.. _ _ _ _ - - .- 1 Temperature, (00C) __ -26 12 1 9.9 31 16 21. 6- 32 1 5 22.5 2 Colour, pChomciy UJnit) ____15 ND(<0 5) ND(< 5) ND(<0.5) ND(<O 5) NDl<0 5) NDezO 5) ND(<0 5) ND('0.5) ND(-'0 5) 2.39 NDQcO 5) __ 2.4 0.33 0.33 ND(<0 5) ND(<0 5) ND)-C 5) 3pH _6 5 - 85 8.5 6 7.3 8.6 6.37 7,6 -9 -66 7.4 8.05 5.9 81 6.9 6.5 64 6 04 --6.2 4 Turbidity, (NTU) 5 216 N. D. (<11) 18 1. 21 N, 0 (<1) 3.8 25 1 4.6 50 1 26.0 6.5 1 90 NOI<l) __19 5Electrical Conductivity. (pmhos/cm) - =395 3 121.9 539 18 155.5 517 1 7 150.0 1547 61 1058.5 921 484 156 91 118.7 6 Total Dissolved Solids. (mg{A 1000 289 10 97 323 7 105.3 360 1 1 100.2 903, 51 572.5 468 298 117 69 83.9 7 Total Suspended Solids, (mg/i) -38.4 N. D. (<11) 15.7 13.2 ND(<l) 5.4 3.4.4 ND(< 1) 10.0 49.33 1 26.9 4.5 1 114.4 1.2 30.3 B Chemical Analysis -- _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 8Total Alkalinity as CaCO3, (m_gA) -237.35 12.63 _789 353-5 15.15 102.6 398.95 12.63 103.5 617.5___25 _466.3 332.5 175 90 52.5 64.6 9 Bicarbonate Alkalinity, (mng/A) 237.35 _ _12.63 788 _353.5 15.15 101.7 398.95 12.63 103.0 617.5 25 466.3 332.5 175 90 52.5 64,6 10 Total Hardness as CaCO3, (mq/I _ 206 10 69.4- - 326 _ 9 90.6 346 6 92.9 426 12 331.0 460 178__ 74 40 537.7 1 1 Calcium Hardness as CC3(mi) -156 4 50. 1 271.53 4.01 61.7 295.58 4.01 654.7 413.8 8 264.0 336.8 97.3 59 26 39.9 12'Magn~9esium Hardness as CaCO3. (mgI -82' 2.98 19 84 3.99 26.2 136 0.99! 28.1 149.8 4 135.8 123.2 80.7 1 7 1 1 13.9 13.lron, (mg/i) 0.~~_ _ _k3 0.71 0.04 0.3 0.64 0.05. 0.2 0.38 ND(<0.05)! 0.2 5.43'ND <0. 05 2.7 0.23 NDL<0.05 2.18 0.05 0.6 l41Manganese, (mg/i) ~~~~ ~~~0.5 046N0.(.1 0 0.07 ND(<0.01 .0 -008D<.0) 0.1 1.84!ND(<0.01) 11 0.38 0.04 0.06 IND(<0.q1) 0.1 iS~Arnmonia N4, (m/)1.2 0.21 N. 0. (<0.0_51 0.1 0.12 ND(<0.01 01 0.18,ND(<0.05). 0.1 i2.82iND(<0.05) 1.5 0.66 0.35 ND <0.0J5 ND(<o~.05 ND ~<0.05 16'NitrateNO3-.(~~~~g/l _____ 11.3 7.3T-_5 N. D.A<0.051__ 0.7 09.32 ND <0._05 __ 0.2 0.84 ND(<0.05) 0.2 18ND<.5 1.8 933 .206 02 04 17 Chlo__de C_______________ 250 6.5 0.5 23___.19_ND(<0.05) 2.~1 9 0.5~ 1.8 151.3' 1 77.1 62.2 38.3 2.5 1 1.9 18 SpecialAnlis____ _____________________________________________________ Langlier/Saturation Index - __9.7 7.2 8.5 9.6 7 8.3 9.8 6.8: 8.4 _________________ ______ C B acteriological A n~ y j _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __a_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,Fecal Coliform Count, (MPN Index Il1OOrTrNil >1 100 Nil 217-4 >1100 Nil 384.8 > 1 100 Nil 259.2 240 Ni) 144.0 >1100 460 460 Nil 264.3 Source:RWSSFDB (2002) N= 26 N= 25 N= 2-2 N= 65 N= 2 N= 7 Note ND: Not Detected These samples are collected in Baglung. Bhaktapur. Chitwan. Dhanusa. Gorkha. Gulmi. ilam, Kaski, Kathmandu, Kavre, Lalitpur. Makawanpur, Mohottan, Nawalparasi. Nuwakot, Parbat, Parsa, Rautahat. Rupendehi, Saptan, Sarlahi, Sindhuli, Sindhupalchowk, Tanahu, Udayapur, Siraha, Jhapa and Kapilbastu districts - 12 - Arsenic concentration I.11 IBelow 10 %~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ab 501 L'rlanusna ean Mr9Jhp Fig. 2.3 Mapping of the arsenic concentration in Nepal Table 2.6: Arsenic concentration in different district Total Maximnum Concentration Samples with different level of Arsenic ug/L District samples 0-jo % 0-10 >10-50 %0 10-50 >50 % >50 ug/L Kailali 167 88 47 65 35 34 18 161 Kanchanpur 156 130 83 17 11 9 6 221 Banke 760 671 88 78 10a 11 1 270 Bardiya 530 385 73 125 24 20 4 181 Dang 100 91 91 9 9 0 0 50 Rupandehi 1999 1749 87 216 11 34 2 2620 Kapilbastu 2314 2005 87 232 10 77 3 589 Nawalparasi 1164 621 53 340 29 203 17 571 Chitawan 85 85 100 0_ 0 0 0 8 Parsa 1926 1669 87 204 211 53 3 456 Bara 1850 1612 87 188 10 50 3 254 Rauthat 2007 778 39 968 48 207 10 213 Sarlahi 367 287 78 66 18e 14 4 98 Mahottari 67 58 87 8 12 1 1 41 Dhanusha 113 78 69 28 25 7 6 140 Siraha 113 83 73 21 19 9 890 Saptari 397 350 88 43 11 4 1 70 Sunsari 200 176 88 22 11 2 1 75 Morong 134 124 93 9 7 1 1 50 Jhapa 463 393 85 1 69 15 1 _ 0 79| Total 14932 11433 77 2708 18E 737 5 - 13 - 2.10 Environmental aspects of RWSSP I: lessons learned and issues of major concern Water quantity: RWSSP I allows reliable sources that can provide an absolLute minimum demand of 25 Ipcd (in case of non-availability of any other options) to an average demand of 45 lpcd. The sanitation part of RWSSP I has provision for a significant number of pour flulsh latrines in every scheme. During the field visit by the team of this study, what has been observed that many houselholds under the completed schemes have now not only pour flush latrines but also the provision of bathrooms. Improved life style of people has a direct impact on the installationi of these facilities. Because, RWSSP I not only includes the schemes in rural remote areas but also the places which are in the national highways, and communities close to the municipalities and district headquarters. In these areas the quality of life is almost similar to what is there in municipalities and towns. To keep a good sanitary condition in the latrine, it is essential to flush after every defecation. Assuming a pOur-flUSh latrine needs an average of 2-3 L of water for every flush, a person would need 12-18 L of water everyday for the flushing purpose only. The minimum criteria of either 25 Ipc(d or 45 Ipcd is meant for domestic demand which includes: drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes and dishes, latrine flushing, feeding and washing the animals and maintaining the sanitary conditions in latrine, bathroom, kitchen and entire households. With expansion of rural infrastructures, the quality of life of the people in rural areas increases and consequently the water demand too. The water supplied should be able to meet the basic reqtuirement including the quantity essential for maintaining a minimum sanitary conditions in latrines and household premises. These facts lead to the conclusion that an assessment of the demand pattern including the breakdown of 20 or 45 Ipcd in meeting the requirement of specific activities as outlined above be made. WVater quiality . The major water quality issue is related to the microbiological contamination. As slhowni in Table 2.5, the presence of fecal coliform in the water sources indicates that even the spring soturces are not safe from bacteriological pollution. Arsenic contamination is also an another issue bLut the samples containing arsenic exceeding the standards and guideline values is only a vety small. As outlined above in section 2.9, the risks due to bacteriological contamination are of acute and higher magnitude in nature than that of the risks due to arsenic problems. Thus making the supplied water bacteriologically safe still gets the first priority. There are other problems too for example: contamination with suspended solids, iron, manganese and turbidity. Etivironmzenital saniitation .- The existing practice for the disposal of plateform-drained wastewater, stormwater, gray water, and septic tank effluent is to dispose in the nearby areas and let it take the natural course. The problems due to non-engineered disposal is ponding, promoting mosquito breeding and contamination of downstream sources or groundwater. In Terai area, wlhere the shallow groundwater is extensively used, there is a possibility of contamination from the disposed blackwater (effluent) or greywater. Other environmental sanitation issues include development of facilities such as stone soling on the pavements and dry stone side walls in village walkways in the hilly areas. In Terai areas such facilities could be the gravelling of the walkways in the villages. The problems created by non-engineered walkway facilities are: difficulty in maintaining the smooth flow of traffic, difficulties from the muddy and dirty portions in the walkways, creation of water patches, erosion of the base and physical burden to refill the eroded portion. By not having the proper place for animals to drink and bath, often unsanitary conditions are created. Some interventions have been made - 14- on composting pit, disposal of animal wastes, separation and disposal of solid wastes from the household premises during the implementation of RWSSP I. It has been fclt essential to make these activities more comprelhensive not only during the project implementation period but also during the whole life-span of the project. Similarly, it is essential to (lisseminate the information aboLut good practices, scientific methods of hiousehold management, kitchen management, animal keeping and disposing the wastes. There munst an effective and sustainable awareness campaign for school children specially to disseminate the inforrmation of: maintaining a sanitary system in schools, maintaining the containers for keeping anal cleansinig water and transporting water from the tap, proper ways of sitting on the squat pan and ways of keeping the toilet clean. Traditionial wvater values.- Many of the water supply schemes are replacing the traditional spouts, kuwas or other supply as these traditional sources could be away from the community or they are simply inadequate to meet the demand of the community. In Nepal, the traditional concepts in using these sources are interlinked with many festivals, rituals or group activities. The reason for carrying out such activities in the water sources is to ensure the sustainability of the source, protection of health and well being. In this way the water use also has a spiritual link to the people and they are obliged to protect the sources. Trees are planted on the catclhment areas, proper sanitary conditions are maintained on such premises and young generations are made aware on this spiritual ties to water. RWSSP I formats do not make any provisions for the assessment of such traditional concepts and practices. It is proposed that RWSSP TI makes such arrangement so that the traditional values are respected to ensure the sustainability of the new water supply and sanitation schemes. Detailed discussion on these issues are also given on Chapter V. 2.11 Groundwvater issues The followings are the findings and recommendations from the recent study on RWSS I grolindwater schemes (RWSSFDBa, 2002). The objectives of thie study were to: identify the rcasons for the failure of tube well schemes implemented for rLural water supply, investigate hydrogeology and nature of aquifers for tuLbe well construction in the area and produce hydrogeological maps for pre-developmnent, development and implementation activities, reduce the chances of failure of tubewell scheme for fuiture program, identify feasible area for tube well schemes and prepare a adequate gulideline for tube well survey, construction and installation. The study has identified three hydrogeologic situation in Terai and valleys in Nepal. The first category includes the northern part termed as 'Bhabher zone whiclh has a hard formation (boulder to gravel), deep water level in the range of greater than 7 m below ground level (BGL) and a high fluctuation of water level over 4m. The second category includes middle Terai area which has hard to medium formation (coarse gravel and occasionally pebbles and cobbles), shallow to medium level water level in the range of less than 7 m BGL and medium to low fluctuation of water level of 2 to 3 m. The third category includes the main Terai or tile southern part where medium to soft formnation (gravel to sandy or silty coarse), shallow water level in the range of less than 5 m BGL, low fluctuation of water level (I to 2 m) exists. The report has made a discussion on the existing situation of completed schemes. For example, the Dug Well scheme of Mushamiya WSS scheme in Sirha district which was also - 15 - visited by the team members of this stuLdy, has static water level (SWL) in the range of very critical zone. The level is 21 to 22 ni below the top of the dug well. There is a possibility that the wells might be depleted due to draught and peak dry period. The report lhas outlined the following lessons to be learned. - schemes have been implemented without adequate survey and design - the major driving factors are local demand and local technology - seasonal water level fluctuation has been ignored - tube well / dug wells were also constructed in wet season too which implied that adequate depth might not have been reached - no pre-survey and pre-test for lithology, water quality and water level have been conducted - users expect for high discharge artisan wells - timne gap between tube well installation and construction of plateforms which lead to unwanted slhaking by the children - maintenance is not followed and tool box is not provided to the commuinity - water logging persists around tubewell in some schemes The report has made the following recommendations in order to ensure the successful dug well and tube well schemes. - During pre-development phase, secondary information on the hydrogeological and other aspects should be collected from the groundwater field offices under the Department of Irrigation, Ministry of Water Resources and HMG district offices, Community Groundwater Irrigation Sector Project, Community Shallow Tube Well Irrigation Project, Groundwater Rural Development Project - It is desirable to have groundwater survey and mapping which provides the information on existing TW/DW inventory, depth to aquifer, static water level, pumpinlg water level and water quality - The construction or implementation of TWs or DWs should be carried out during the dry season ( January to May) - Standard design for TW and DW and information on local hydrogeology, water quality and litlhology should be provided to the community - ReguLlar monitoring program is essential and shouild include the monitoring of indicators related to water quality, water level and environment in general - Arsenic case in Nepal is not investigated thoroughly in a systematic way to find root causes of contamination. There are several mitigation measures applied in other countries. These have to be initiated in seriously affected areas: Nawalparasi, Rautalhat, Sarlahi, Parsa and other districts - Technicians under SO, SA and engineers / PMs involved in the program should have thorouLgh knowledge of groundwater and aquifer system like confined, unconfined and pheratic aquifers and how to utilize them in the community level. The system should be so designed that it should be low cost, sustainable and feasible with technical and financial justification. For this purpose, groundwater training to all levels is very essential. - Artisan leakage like in Gadi Schemes should be sealed properly or controlled to make the groundwater environment friendly. Otherwise grounldwater reserve or aquifer system/ artisan head will be exhausted - 16 - CHAPTER III BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS 3.1 General Nepal is a land-locked country located in the Himalayan Region where the Indian plains meet the Tibetan plateau of China. It covers an area of 147,181 square kilometers with a majority of the terrain predominated with mountains and hills. Geographically Nepal is located in between 26
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Nepal - Second Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project : environmental assessment
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