1 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (Esia
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ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (ESIA) SUMMARY 1. Introduction The project proposed for Bank financing consists in the construction of a new Sidi Abbou dam on the Leben Wadi situated in Ain Maatouf Commune, Taounate Province. Based on the Integrated Safeguards System (ISS), the project was classified in Category I since its development will cause the physical and/or economic expropriation of over 200 people alongside the flooding of about 590 ha of agricultural land, the displacement of 72 households and loss of livelihoods for 930 people, about 30% of whom are women. The project was subject to Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), accompanied by a Framework Land Acquisition and Project Affected Persons Compensation Plan (PCATI-PAP). This document is the summary ESIA. 2. Project Description and Rationale The future site of the Sidi Abbou dam is located in the upstream section of the Leben Wadi, a right- bank tributary of the Inaouene Wadi, about 4.4 km straight upstream towards Ras El Wadi, in Ain Maatouf Commune in Taounate Province (at coordinates: X = 584,950 m; Y = 424,620 m) The BCR-weight-type embankment will be 61 m high with crest length of 115 m and impoundment of about 830 ha (8.33 km2) with capacity of 198 Mm3. The annual rate of silting of the Sidi Abbou dam site was estimated at 0.422 Mm3/year, equivalent to an unusable storage of 21.1 Mm3 for a period of 50 years. It will allow for regulating an annual volume of 84 Mm3, with an average deficit of 4.1%. The construction of the Sidi Abbou dam is part of implementation of the Sebou Basin Integrated Water Resources Development Master Plan (PDAIRE) and the priority programme carried out by the Department of Water of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water (METLE). It will help to increase the basin’s storage capacity, build its resilience to climate change impacts and sustainably respond to water needs. Furthermore, it will help to reduce sea-bound losses, offer the possibility of interconnection with other water basins (as part of the huge North-to-South water transfer project), protect downstream urban centres and the Gharb plain (irrigation scheme) from flooding and offer a potential for hydropower generation. Apart from the above objectives, the dam’s construction will also serve to develop other projects in the area such as the Leben Wadi irrigation scheme downstream of the dam, generate electricity with the likelihood of a power plant being installed and improve rural drinking water supply in Taounate and Taza Provinces. 3. Political, Legal and Administrative Framework 3.1 Applicable National Regulatory Instruments Morocco’s regulatory framework has several laws governing environmental protection and water management. Law 11-03 on environmental protection and development (Dahir 1-03-59 of 19 June 2003) sets out the general environmental protection framework and broad principles such as polluter-pays and 1 authorized discharge levels. With regard to project environmental assessments, Law No. 12-03 on environmental impact assessments, after the definition of environmental concepts, specifies the goal and content of environmental impact assessments. Next, it presents the National Committee and regional committees on environmental impact assessments responsible for reviewing the assessments and giving their opinion on the project’s acceptability. Pursuant to this law, the project is subject to an EIA to be submitted to the national committee for review and opinion on its environmental acceptability. Law No. 36-15 on water governs the management of water nationwide as well as its mobilization and preservation. It contains legal and regulatory provisions for the integrated, decentralized and participatory management of water resources. One of the key aspects of this law in terms of water resource management is the provision that water is to be managed within geographic units (water basin) which allows for designing and implementing decentralized water management. National regulations on projects were strengthened with the adoption in 2015 of Law No. 30-15 on the security of dams, which sets rules on dam security to ensure the protection of people and goods against risks associated with the presence of these structures. This non-exhaustive list is completed by other laws such as Law No. 7-81 on expropriation in the public interest and temporary occupation, the laws governing waste management (28-00), air quality (13-03), soil protection and rehabilitation (Dahir 1-69-170 of 25 July 1969) and Law No. 65-99 instituting the Labour Code, etc. 3.2 Institutional Framework Environmental protection matters are managed by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development (MEMDD) via its Secretariat of State in charge of Sustainable Development. In addition to the project developer, the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water through the Department of Water and the Sebou Water Basin Agency (ABH), the project’s institutional framework involves: § the Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forestry (MAPMDREF), including Forestry Conservation, for land certificates, in case of registered land and houses; § the High Commission for Water, Forestry and Fight against Desertification (HCEFLCD); § the Ministry of the Interior; § ONEE, § the Administrative Evaluation Commission, which determines the value of properties to be expropriated; § the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs; § the Land Registry Services for land certificates in case of registered land and houses. § the Caisse De Dépôt De Gestion (the Deposits Management Fund – CDG); in case of legal action, (if the expropriating and expropriated parties fail to reach amicable 2 settlement), the expropriator (METLE) deposits the compensation funds with the CDG for the purpose of taking possession by legal action. 3.3 African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) Safeguard Policies Applicable to this Project In accordance with the Integrated Safeguards System, the following operational safeguards apply to the project: - Operational Safeguard 1: The investment project is subject de facto to environmental and social assessment. - Operational Safeguard 2: Involuntary Resettlement, Land Acquisition, Population Displacement and Compensation: The project will lead to land acquisition and compensations as a result of construction works and impoundment of the dam; - Operational Safeguard 4: Pollution Prevention and Control, Greenhouse Gases, Hazardous Materials and Resource Efficiency : The project works might lead to various forms of pollution especially during the construction phase - Operational Safeguard 5: Labour Conditions, Health and Safety: The project will induce health and safety risks. 4. Description of the Project Environment 4.1 Definition of the Study Area The project’s directly impacted area corresponds to the area that will be flooded by the dam waters. The indirect impact area and the directly affected area, consist of: • Borrow areas of materials used to construct the planned structures, • Areas affected by worksite installation and corresponding construction works; • The dam’s downstream area, corresponding to the Leben wadi irrigation scheme, will receive irrigation water from the future dam. 4.2 Description of the Physical Environment The climate in the project area is sub-humid, characterized by significant rainfall with an annual average of 520 mm/year, measured at the Tissa station, and average monthly temperatures of about 11.9 °C in January and 28.9°C in summer. The Sidi Abbou dam is situated for the most part on marnopelitic land, with a bottom filled with coarse silt and gravel alluvium. The site is marked by its cliff-shaped morphology, characterized by a limestone-dolomitic rock. The project will be situated on the upstream stretch of Leben Wadi, the right-bank tributary of Inaouene Wadi. It commands a land area of 1,200 km2 with average annual inputs registered at the Tissa station of about 114 Mm3. Groundwater resources in the study area are very limited due to the predominance of impermeable marl formations of no hydro-geological significance, except the alluvial terrace of the Leben Wadi, linked to the underflows of this wadi. Regarding water quality, there are no potential salt-bearing deposits upstream of the dam and, with the measures taken as part of technical studies, it can be claimed that the mineralogical quality of 3 the future dam waters will be good and fit for agricultural use as well as for drinking water production. With regard to the biological environment, the study area is undergoing strong human pressure, with the presence of varied matorral and open areas occupied by grain and legume crops, olive and fig plantations. On analysis, these areas do not have protected, rare or endangered faunal and floral species or zones of ecosystem significance. 4.4 Description of the Human Environment Population: The study area covers two provinces – Taounate and Taza. The table below presents the communes directly affected and the communes indirectly affected. Table 1: Administrative Division of the Impact Area Province Communes of the Indirect Communes of the Direct Impact Area Impact Area Taounate Bni oulid Ain Mediouna Ain Mediouna Ain Maatouf Ain Maatouf Ras El Oued Tissa Sidi Mohammed Ben Lahcen Taza Msila Bni Frassen Arbaa El Fouki Brarha Bni Frassen Kaf El Ghar Brarha Taineste The communes found in the restricted impact area are Ain Maatouf, Ain Mediouna, Brarha and Bni Frassen. According to the last GPHC of 2014, the population of communes in the indirect impact area is about 157,173 with about 928 people directly affected by the dam project. Economic Activities: Agriculture is the economic mainstay of the study area, followed by trade and handicrafts. The usable farm area (UFA) in indirectly impacted communes is estimated at about 92,000 ha, while the UFA directly flooded by the dam is about 590 ha. The crop rotation system in the UFA is dominated by cereals (62%), followed by leguminous plants (7%). Tree growing is dominated by the olive tree (13% of UFA).