Environmental Impacts Assessment of water projects (GE: 340)

TOPIC 3
PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT TOOLS

3:1 Environmental Impacts Assessment of water projects

•      Who is involved in the EIA process?	Main stages of EIA
Project proponents -EIA practitioners or service providers -Reviewers -Decision-makers -The public -Interest groups	-         Registration stage -         Screening -         Scoping -         Environmental Impact -         Review -         Decision making

Environmental Impacts Assessment of water projects.

-Environment Impact stages (Service provider/ EIA practicioner)

-EIS contents

- Guidelines in assessing EIA report (Reviewer) 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STAGES

a. Impact identification, both +ve and -ve

b.Examination of alternative sites. Alternative design and operating processes are put in place.

c.Evaluation and assessment of impact. It involves determination of the significance of impacts at local, national and international levels.

d. Development of mitigation options

e.Information dissemination and documentation/ EIS write up.

Careful report organization, and inclusion of clear summaries, maps, figures and recommendations from various stakeholders are required so as to improve communication to the readers of the EIS.

 

EIS CONTENTS

- An executive summary of the EIA findings.

-Description of the proposed development project.

-Baseline data, i.e. relief, vegetation, population, drainage, etc

-A Clear statement of the major environmental natural resources issues that need clarification/elaboration.

-A clear statement of the predicted impacts, their likely significance and the rationale of how these conclusions were reached.

A clear statement of the proposed mitigation measures

- Description of the monitoring procedures required to ensure that mitigation and foreseen impacts are assessed once project implementation begins

 

GUIDELINES IN ASSESSING EI REPORT (EIS)

 

1.     Effective communication:

There should be

- a clear description of the purpose of the problem proposed construction,

-clear statement of environmental effects of the project,

- clear summary of conclusions and the major issues and the logical flow of ideas that relates to the flow of the statement

 

2. Identification of key issues:

See if there is adequate information related to environmental issues. 

-Justification of important environmental features.

- Identification of the boundaries of the study area which will tell the extent environmental impact   

The affected individual groups, communities and agencies who are involved in the project should be identified.

- The environmental policies and programmes should be consulted

 

3. Environmental planning and alternative consideration:

Look at the adequacy of description of environmental planning. Assess the description of the alternative plans

 

4. Information base:

 There should be adequate documentation of sources of information used for analysis. There should be very clear valid and reliable information.

 

5. Impact identification:

There should be the description of the method used to identify the potential negative and positive impacts

 

6. Impact prediction:

It should describe the methods used in predicting the impact.

 

7. Mitigation measures: 

There should be a clear definition of proposed mitigation measures in specific practical terms. Give the cost and technology needed in order to avoid negative impacts.   

Quiz: 5 members per group
Time: 15 minutes

1.     Who are involved in EIA

2.     Mention the main stages of EIA

3.     Match each stage mentioned in question 2 with people involved.

4.     NB: One group of people may be involved in more than one stage

5.     Differentiate EIA from EIS

6.     Write the format for ToR.

Reference

http://bccampus.pressbooks.com/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-7-the-project-life-cycle-phases/

PROCEEDING LECTURE ON TOPIC 3
Planning and management tools

3:1 Environmental Impacts Assessment of water projects

•      EIA and the project cycle

•  EIA stages

•      Project life cycle

•      Integration of Project Life Cycle with the EIA mechanism

Project life cycle

The path/stages a project takes from the beginning to its end

A standard project typically has the following four major phases/stages

1.  initial
3.  Planning
5.  implementation,
7.  Closing/completion

 http://bccampus.pressbooks.com/projectmanagement/chapter/chapter-7-the-project-life-cycle-phases

INITIAL PHASE

-         Project identification according to the need of the society/area.

-         ‘’Identify the need then plan for the project’’

-         It can be a social need, environmental need or economic need.

-         Identify the objectives of the project

PLANNING PHASE  

      A)  Identification of

-         all work to be done/the project’s tasks

-          resource requirements( man power, money, technology, area)

-          The strategy for producing/getting them.

B) Preparation for project schedule and estimated cost

c) Identify and try to deal with anything that might pose a threat to the successful completion of the project/ risk management

IMPLEMENTATION (EXECUTION) PHASE

-During this phase, the project plan is put into motion and performs the work of the project.

- Progress is continuously monitored and appropriate adjustments are made from the original plan.

- People are carrying out the tasks and progress information is being reported through regular team meetings

Throughout this step, project sponsors and other key stakeholders should be kept informed of project status according to the agreed and format.

-The plan should be updated and published on a regular basis.

-The first course of action should always be to bring the project back to the original plan.

Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality and measured according to the agreed criteria.

 - Once all of the deliverables have been produced and the customer has accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.

 Deliverable= something that has been promised to a customer or client, especially a piece of work that is part of a larger project, often contractually identified both in time and content

CLOSING/COMPLETION PHASE

-         Releasing the final deliverables to the customer, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders.

-          To conduct lessons learned studies; to examine what went well and what didn’t; the wisdom of experience is transferred back to the project organization, which will help future project teams.  

INTEGRATION OF PROJECT LIFE CYCLE WITH THE EIA MECHANISM

When should we conduct EIA in the project cycle?

 EIA is done at every stage in the project cycle.

  

During initial phase,

 Quick environmental overview or preliminary EIA can indicate the environmental implications of any proposed project.

-Registration, screening, and scoping are carried out in this phase.

Planning phase 

-         Impact assessment is carried out during this stage/risk management

-          A detailed design of mitigation measures is required here

Implementation (execution) Phase

-         EIA report will be used as guideline during this phase

-         Implementation of mitigating measures

Closing/completion phase

-Assessment and evaluation of the whole project.

-To conduct lessons learned studies; to examine what went well and what didn’t.

•      QUESTIONS

1. When should we conduct EIA in the project cycle?

 2. Elaborate the stages of the project cycle.

 

Says Sr. Mbegu

GE:340 LECTURER