Initial Environmental Examination

Loan 2860 (SF) March 2015

ARM: Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project – Additional Financing Improvement of Aragatsotn Region Settlements Water Supply Systems (Updated)

Prepared by the Armenian Water and Sewerage Closed Joint Stock Company (AWSC) for the Asian Development Bank.

The initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB’s Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this website.

In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDED

WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SECTOR PROJECT - ADDITIONAL FINANCING

Date of preparation 2013 Date of revision - 18.12.2014 Date of approval -13.03.2015

X SUBPROJECT L2860-ICB-1-10: IMPROVEMENT OF ARAGATSOTN REGION SETTLEMENTS WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION (Updated)

Yerevan, March, 2015 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

STATE COMMITTEE OF WATER SYSTEM UNDER THE RA MINISTRY FOR TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE “ARMWATERSEWERAGE” CJSC

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDED

WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SECTOR PROJECT - ADDITIONAL FINANCING

Subproject X IMPROVEMENT OF ARAGATSOTN REGION WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS

INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION

(Talin town and Aruch, Partizak, Nor Amanos, Arevut, Kanch, Hakko, Sorik, Karaberd villages of Aragatsotn region, RA)

HGSN Ltd, Director V. Hovasapyan

Environmental expert K.Sahakyan

Yerevan, March, 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Scope of Work ...... 4

2. Description of the Existing Water Supply and Sewage Systems ...... 6

2.1. Description of the water supply systems ...... 6

3. Geographical Location and Climate of the Settlements ...... 8

3.1. Villages of Arutch, Partizak, Nor Amanos of Aragatsotn Region ...... 8 3.2. Talin town and villages of Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik of Aragatsotn Region and Karaberd village of Shirak Region...... 9

4. Biodiversity and Specially Protected Areas ...... 9

4.1. Villages of Arutch, Partizak, Nor Amanos of Aragatsotn Region, RA ...... 9 4.2. The town of Talin and villages of Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik of Aragatsotn Regionand Karaberd village of Shirak Region ...... 10

5. Environmental Impact Assessment ...... 11

Appendix 1. Checklist for Quick Environmental Evaluation ...... 12 Appendix 2: Checklist for Preliminary Climate Risk Screening ...... 15 Appendix 3.1. Aragatsotn subproject layout ...... 16 Appendix 3.2. Aragatsotn subproject layout (external waterlines) ...... 16

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1. Scope of Work

This subcomponent of the subproject aims at the improvement of water supply systems of Talin town and Aruch, Partizak, Nor Amanos, Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik, Karaberd rural communities of RA Aragatsotn Region, included in the frame of the project.

Priority has been given to the improvement of water supply systems, the purpose of which the following works have been carried out:

 Works in the external systems of the settlements . Repairing of catchment chambers of “Zovasar-Jinjakner” gravity system, fencing the sanitary zones of the catchments.

 t. Talin . Repair of DRRs with capacities of 2x1000m3 and 2x250m3, . Repair of chlorination station, . Reconstruction and construction of pipes with a total length of L=19065 m and diameters of de50-de160 with polyethylene pipes. . Replacement of entry lines of 45 apartment and public buildings. . Replacement of the entry lines of 569 private houses, installing water metering chambers. . Construction and reconstruction of water supply (6) and fire hydrant chambers (6), buried valve junctions (59).

 Aruch village . Installation of chlorination device on the existing DRRs, . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de160, L=7850 m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 238 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction of valve (3 pieces) and buried valve junctions (6 pieces).

 Partizak village . Installation of chlorination device on the existing DRRs, . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de110, L=3650 m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 86 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction of valve junctions (2 pieces).

 Nor Amanos village . Installation of chlorination device on the existing DRRs,

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. Reconstruction and construction of de50-de160, L=6450 km long pipes with polyethylene pipes. . Replacement of the entry lines of 120 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction valve (3 pieces) and buried valve junctions (10 pieces), . Fencing the DRR sanitary zone with a capacity of V=300m3.

 Arevut village . Reconstruction of approximately L=4000 m long external conduit with pipes of de90 diameter, . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de90, L=970m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 35 private houses, installation of water metering chambers. . Construction and reconstruction of valve (1 piece) and buried valve junctions (1 piece).

 Kanch village . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de90 pipes, L=2880m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 35 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction of buried valve junctions (1 piece).

 Hako village . Reconstruction of external conduit de90, L=1600m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de90, L=1,550m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 26 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction of valve (2 pieces) and buried valve junctions (1 piece).

 Sorik village . Reconstruction of the L=3,660m long external conduit with pipes of de90 diameter, . Reconstruction of the DRR with a capacity of V=100m3, fencing the sanitary zone, . Reconstruction and construction of de50-de90, L=1300m long pipes with polyethylene pipes. . Replacement of the entry lines of 25 private houses, installation of water metering chambers. . Construction and reconstruction of valve junctions (1 piece).

 Karaberd village . Reconstruction of approximately L=2300m long external conduit with pipes of de110 diameter, . Reconstruction and construction of de40-de160, L=8315m long pipes with polyethylene pipes, . Replacement of the entry lines of 230 private houses, installation of water metering chambers, . Construction and reconstruction of valve (3 pieces) and buried valve junctions (8 pieces).

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Table 1: Brief description of the implemented works

Works M/U v. Total t. Talin Hako v. Sorik v. Aruch v. Kanch v. Arevut v. Partizak v. Karaberd v. Nor Amanos

Reconstruction of the lm - 4000 - 1550 3660 2300 11510 external conduit Repair of DRRs m3 2500 100 2600 Repair of chlorination piece 1 station Installation of chlorination piece 1 1 1 3 devices Reconstruction of water supply internal network with pipes of de50-de160 lm 19065 7850 3650 6450 970 2880 1550 1300 8320 51915 diameters, testing, washing, disinfecting Construction of the entry lines of private houses, piece 569 238 86 120 35 35 26 25 230 1364 installing water metering chambers Replacement of the entry piece 45 lines of apartment and 45 public buildings Construction, piece 12 reconstruction of the 12 water supply and hydrant chambers Construction of buried piece 58 9 2 13 2 1 3 1 11 100 valve junctions

Population of the Subproject at the date of 01.01.2014 was 11,412 people, 6,593 of which is the urban population. The overall number of the subscribers of Talin town is 1,712 people. For the rural areas, the water is provided for the wholesale.

According to the data published by the “Demographic Handbook of Armenia 2012” the population is 0.43%: Due to the project implementation, it is planned to provide drinking and sustainable water supply to the consumers of the communities.

2. Description of the Existing Water Supply and Sewage Systems 2.1. Description of the water supply systems The town of Talin included in the subproject is served by AWS CJSC. Aruch, Partizak, Nor Amanos, Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik, Karaberd villages are also served by AWS CJSC for the

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 6 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing wholesale. The water supply of Talin is implemented from “Karmrashen” and “Kentaghbyur” catchments by gravity system. The waters transmitted from catchments are disinfected in the chlorination plant situated in the area of Talin DRRs. The distribution network of Talin is served by 4 DRRs with the total volume of

Table 2. Design population growth by years

Talin town population number by years 2014 19665 2023 6882 2032 7153 2015 19685 2024 6912 2033 7184 2016 19704 2025 6941 2034 7215 2017 19724 2026 6971 2035 7246 2018 19744 2027 7001 2036 7277 2019 19764 2028 7031 2037 7308 2020 19783 2029 7062 2038 7340 2021 19803 2030 7092 2039 7371 2022 19823 2031 7122 2040 7403

Table 3. Mean water demand of settlements

Average daily design water Design population Water use rate, N Settlement demand (2040) number, man l/day, man m3/day l/sec 1 Talin town 7403 210 1554.6 17.99

Table 4. Design water demands

Design water demand

, , sv. մ max

β

(l/sec) concent x x N av.daily concent. (l/sec) con. +Q (l/sec) max +Q (l/sec) (l/sec) (l/sec) =1.3 ), Q hourly Settlement Current max.h. Designed Designed hourl av.h max.h =αα instruction day coefficient, =210/200l/day, h Max.average Q n man), Q Q Concentrated Q Average daily, K Maximalhourly (K Population number Hour irregularity Q yield, (q

1 Talin town 7403 17.99 23.39 1.77 41.40 - - -

Table 5. Designed discharges

Design discharges Design (qÏ=130175 l/day, man qÏ=175l/day. man) Q max.daily Settlement population Q av. Qav. Q max.daily Qmax.daily number, man daily hour 3 Kgen. max.hour, max.sec, m /h m3/day m3/h m3/h l/sec Talin town 7403 1184.5 49.4 1539.9 2.02 99.7 27.7

In the village settlements there are no waste water removal systems, the residents use yard toilets.

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3. Geographical Location and Climate of the Settlements

The communities included in the subproject are situated in the sub-regional areas of Ashtarak and Talin of Aragatsotn Region and Artik of Shirak Region, RA. The village communities Arutch, and Nor Amanos included in the subproject are situated in the sub-regional area of Ashtarak, the town of Talin and Partizak, Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik villages are situated in the sub-regional area of Talin, and Karaberd village is situated in the sub-regional area of Artik.

The area of Aragatsotn Region is situated in north-western part of the RA. The essential pecularity of the geographical location of the region is the fact that it is situated in the territory between Yerevan and the highest peak of RA - Aragats (the absolute heights vary from 950m to 4090m). The main water source is river Kasakh with its Gegharot and Amberd tributories.

Aragatsotn Region, RA occupies 2753 km2 territory. The regional centre is the town of Ashtarak, which is 22 km far from Yerevan. The absolute marks of the settlements included in the subproject vary between 1050-1720m.

3.1. Villages of Arutch, Partizak, Nor Amanos of Aragatsotn Region The inspected area of Aragatsotn Region is situated in the foothill zone of Araratyan slopes in southern part of the region. In southern part the slopes merge with Araratyan valley, and in northern part the area borders southern low slopes of mountain Aragats. The settmenents are situated in the basin of Kasakh river 1050-1475m above sea level. They are 9-27 km far from Ashtarak and 27-42 km far from Yerevan. The climate of the area is extremely terrestrial characterized by hot summers and quite severe winters. The average annual temperature of the air is +9.10C, the absoltue minimum temperature reaches -290C, and the absolute maximum reaches 715mm.The average annual percipitations are for about 447mm, the maximum – 715mm. The average snow layer during the winter reaches 28cm, the maximum – 68cm. The maximum depth of the soil freezing is 79 cm. The average relative humidity of the air is 62%. The average annual wind speed is 2.8m/s. From the geomorphological viewpoint the terretory is represented as a widspread landscape zone intersected by foothill where volcanic sediments of the armenian mountain range form the geomorphological structure. The physically active airing, the volcanic errosion forms are characteristic of the relief. The dominating surface slope is 5-100. As the volcanic formations intensively underwent airings and are characterized by extreme cracks, the soil waters are infiltrated in quite deep horizons and their layers are situated below 15-20m. From the exogene geological phenomena, there are surface errosion, ravine flows, flooding as a result of atmospheric percipitations, and in the dip slopes there are stone falling, deepening and changing of the river bed. In the settlements of the inspected area the possible strength of the earthquakes is 8 points of magnitude, and the absolute horizontal acceleration is 0.3g.

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3.2. Talin town and villages of Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik of Aragatsotn Region and Karaberd village of Shirak Region

The inspected area of Aragatsotn Region is situated on the south-western low slopes of mountain Aragats forming a semi-circle around Aragats massif in western part of the region. The settlements are 30-50km far from the regional centre Аshtarak, and 50-75 km far from Yerevan. They are situated 1220-1720 m above sea level.

Dry, terrestrial climate is characteristic of the region. As as result of variations in surface heights the climate conditions are diverse in lower and higher terretories: /the average temperature of July varies between +6 and + 24 oC/. In July the average temperature of the air varies between +20 and +24oC. The maximum temperature may reach up to +340C. In January the average temperature of the air varies between -14-and -26oC. The lowest temperature may go under -38oC. Checklist for Preliminary Climate Risk Screening is attached in Appendix 2.

The atmospheric percepitations change according to the heights and may vary bewteen 400mm and 1000mm. The dominating direction of the winds is mainly northern and north-eastern.

From the geomorphologic viewpoint the territory is characterized by mountainous valleys of middle height with landscape intersected by plateaus and coombs, covered by lavas.

The essential factor in the formation of the geological structure is the upper paleogene activity of volcanic mountain Aragats. The volcanic complexes are represented by andesite-basalts, dacites, tuffs and tuff-lavas, which are covered by a thick layer of errosion sediments. Volcanic-errosion types, extremely fractured surface, as well as physically active airings are characteristic of the relief. The dominating slope of the surface is 3-50.

As the volcanic formations are characterized by extreme fractures, the soil waters are infiltrated in deep horizons and their levels vary between 120-150mm of depth.

In the settlements of the inspected area the possible swing of the earthquake is 8-9 points of magnitude, and the absolute horizontal acceleration is 0.4g.

4. Biodiversity and Specially Protected Areas 4.1. Villages of Arutch, Partizak, Nor Amanos of Aragatsotn Region, RA

The terretory is characterized by semi-desert grey, crushed stone and cemented soils, where the meadow, steppe and semi-desert vegetation types are spread.

In the area the cereals wheatgrass (Phleum sp.), meadow grass (Poa sp.), fescue grass (Festuca sp.) are spread. Mainly the composition of artemisia fragrans can be met. The steppe vegetation is represented by feather grass, fescue, brome grass formations, and the dominating ones are Volga fescue (Festuca valesiaca), narrow-leaved feather grass (Stipa tirsa), etc. There are types of sedge and thyme as well. Ther can be met lantago-common plantain, Tragopogon-shephard’s clock, Taracsacum-dapple, Betonica-betony, Vicia-tare, Trifolium-clover, Cirsium-spine, Euphorbia-

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 9 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing milk thistle, Papaver–ulip, and bushes, such as Rosa-rose hip, Acantholimon-Christ’s thorn, Jasminum fruticans -jasmin.

From tree types, there can be met poplar (Populus), acacia (Robinia), maple (Acer), mulberry (Morus), wild apricot (Armeniaca vulgeris), couch (Crataegus), common pear (Pyrus salicifolia), taller ash and narrow-leaved ash (Fraxsinus excelsior, F.oxycarpa), snow spirea (Spiraea crenata), common barberry (Berberis orientalis).

In this territory there can be met such plant types as Hohenackeria exscapa which is registered in Red Data Book of Armenia, and is considered to be endangered.

In the area types of invertebrates can be met, such as tyes of grasshopers (Oedopoda coerulescensd, Oe. Miniata, Pholidoptera), grigs, flies (Tomomyza araxana, Bombilus schelkovnikovi). There can be met only one types of scorpion, such as the yellow scorpion (Buttus caucasicus). Among reptiles lizards (Ophisops elegans) and Transcaucasian lizard (E.pleskei) can be met.

Among mammals there can be met hares (Lepus europaeus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), wolves (Canis lupus). There are wide spread the representatives of rodents, such as the representatives of murine (Muridae) family, especially field mice (Microtinae). Among birds there are wide spread perching birds (Passeriformes) and raptors (Falconoformes).

In the territory, in the area of subproject implementation there are no vulnerable or specially protected areas from the ecological viewpoint. Among the settlements included in the subproject there are cultural, archeological or inherited sites. In this aera there are preserved or ruined midieval buildings (monastries, churches). The church complex of 4-8 centuries is situated in Talin, and the tomb valley of Talin is situated 1.5-2 km far from the settlements included in the construction sites of the subproject and therefore the project doesn’t deal with the latters.

4.2. The town of Talin and villages of Arevut, Kanch, Hako, Sorik of Aragatsotn Regionand Karaberd village of Shirak Region

In the dry steppe and steppe landscape zones charactersitic of the territory there are brown or black mountain soils. The majority of the landscape has been transported within the scope of utilazation as agricultural soils.

According to botanical surveys the rocky steppe vegetation is characteristc of the region and is represented by the following formations: feather grass (Stipa), fescue grass (Festuca) and cereal grass (Bromus). The tragacanths are widely spread, such as Astragalus microcephalus-Gaz, A.aureus , A.lagurus . The dominating types of steppe bushes are Spiraea-spireas, A.rupestre- alliums and Acantholimon-acantholimon.

In high rocky zones, on the rocky meadow soils, alpine and cisalpine meadows are spread. The meadow steppes are represented by Festuca ovina-sheep’s fescue grass, Koeleria critstata-prairie

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 10 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing june grass, Phleum phleoides –Boehmer’s cats-tail and meadow-steppe formations. The types of variegrassy meadowsteppes are met on the slopes of different gradients and positions and are represented by the types of lucerne (Medicago L.) and clover (Trifolium L.).

The forest zone is missing in the terretory. There can only be poplar (Populus), acacia (Robinia), maple (Acer), mulberry (Morus), wild apricot (Armeniaca), European ash and desert (caucasian) ash (Fraxsinus excelsior, F.oxycarpa), Elaeagnus, willow- Salix and rose hip- Rosa.

In the region /nearby Talin and Katnaghbyur/ there are types of species registered in the Red Data Book of Armenia, such as Merendera greuteri, which is considered to be critically endangered species.

Among mammals there can be met hares (Lepus europaeus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), volves (Canis lupus) and series of rodents. Among amphibians and reptiles there can be met species of toads, frogs, lizards and snakes.

In the settlements included in the subproject there are historical-cultural monuments, as well as attractive places for eco-tourism, such as the church complex of 4-18 centuries in Talin, and the tomb valley of Talin, which is situated 1.5-2km far from the settlements.

From settlements of subproject only in Talin town there are historical-cultural monuments, but the project doesn’t concern them. In the subproject implementation areas, there are no environmental harming and special natural protection places.

5. Environmental Impact Assessment

Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) has revealed that no damage is expected to be caused to the landscape, flora, fauna, land and water resources of the area where works on improvement of the water supply systems will be impelemented. The sub-project will be implemented mainly in the urban areas of the settlements, and new areas will not be used for the purposes of the works implementation. As a result of the project, the disposal of old equipment and pipes as scrap metals is not anticipated. The old pipeline of internal system will be under operation until the end of construction works. At the moment when new pipeline considers ready (after being disinfected and tested), the old waterline will be cut-down and the new waterline will be put into operation. The old pipeline is the property of community and will remain under the discretion of community.

As to the preliminary environemntal inspection the sub-project was classified as B category project. Along with the Detailed Design an Environemntal Management Plan has to be elaborated for this project, which shall cover all the communities that are included in the Detailed Design.

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Appendix 1. Checklist for Quick Environmental Evaluation

Country/ Improvement of water supply and sanitation systems of RA Subproject Title settlements

Subproject 10 – Talin town and Aruch, Partizak, Nor Amanos, Atevut, Kanch, Hako, Sector division Sorik, Karaberd villages of Aragatsotn region

Screening Questions Yes N/A No Remarks A. Project Siting Is the project area…?

 Densely populated + The settlements included in the project are considered to have average density of population  Overloaded by development/construction projects Only the town of Talin has project + development documents of urban development /master plans/. +  Is situated in ecologically sensitive areas or nearby

+ Almost in all settlements there are historical-cultural monuments, but the project sites will be located far from them  Is an area of historical cultural heritage and any impact is excluded The church

complex of 4-8 centuries is situated in Talin, and the tomb valley of Talin is situated 1.5-2 km far from the town. +  Preserved area

+ There are no marshes in the project areas.  Wetland

+ There are no such kind of areas in  Is occupied by mangroves Armenia +  Estuarine +  Is a buffer zone of the preserved area

+  A special area for preserving biodiversity

+  Is a bay

B. Potential Environmental Impacts Will the project lead to…?  Pollution of raw water supply from upstream wastewater + The water supply of settlements is discharge from communities, industries, agriculture, and soil implemented from the underground erosion runoff resources  Impairment of historical/cultural monuments/areas and + In town of Talin there are historical-cultural loss/damage to these sites monuments, but the project doesn’t deal with them  Hazard of land subsidence caused by excessive ground + It is not applicable to this subproject water pumping  Social conflicts arising from displacement of communities + Not anticipated  Origination of conflicts as a result of shortage of polluted + Within the scope of the project the drinking water supply for the use of surface and underground waters water supply is implemented from for other useful purposes underground resources. The drinking water mustn’t be utilized for irrigation and other purposes. No conflicts are anticipated.

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Screening Questions Yes N/A No Remarks  Unsatisfactory raw water supply (e.g. excessive pathogens + Within the scope of the project the drinking or mineral constituents) water supply is implemented from underground resources after the disinfection/ chlorination.  Unsafe water supply to the distribution system + The pipeline is to be completely reconstructed, eliminating the illegal connections, water will be supplied after chlorination.  Inadequate protection of intake works or wells, leading to + Within the frame of this subproject there pollution of water supply are no works foreseen in the head structures.  Over pumping of ground water, leading to salinization and + The design doesn’t foresee new ground ground subsidence water intake, that is why the project implementation may not cause salinization or ground subsidence. The project implementation will improve the water supply system stimulating more efficient management of water.  Excessive algal growth in storage reservoir +

 Origination of slopes exceeding the limits of powers of + The project will not lead to origination of community infrastructures slopes. Not applicable for the subproject  Inadequate disposal of sludge from water treatment plants + Not applicable for the subproject  Inadequate buffer zone around pumping and treatment + Project documentation is prepared plants to alleviate noise and other possible nuisances and according to acting urban development protect facilities norms.  Impairments associated with transmission lines and access + Impairments of the access roads isn’t roads intended, and in case of intersection with electric transmission lines , the intersection will be implemented according to the required norms  Health hazards arising from inadequate design of facilities + All design documents for all of the for receiving, storing, and handling of chlorine and other structures of chlorine and other chemical hazardous chemicals materials are prepared according to acting urban development and sanitation norms.  Health and safety hazards to workers from handling and + While working with chlorine or other management of chlorine used for disinfection, other contaminants prescribed technological contaminants, and biological and physical hazards during procedures and health and safety rules project construction and operation shall be followed. The staff receives training from time to time.  Dislocation and involuntary resettlement of the inhabitants + not foreseen  Inadequate impacts on the poor, women and children, + not foreseen Indigenous Peoples or other vulnerable groups  Origination of noise and dust as a result of construction + The mitigating measures will be included in EMP (environmental management plan)  Increase of traffic as a result construction works + Not significant increase is foreseen for the period of construction. The road traffic will be regulated to the maximum due to the mitigating measures included in EMP.  Continuing soil erosion/silt runoff from construction + The detailed measures for the operations organization of construction will be described in the EMP  Delivery of unsafe water due to poor O&M treatment + There won’t occur any problems of sludge processes (especially mud accumulations in filters) and accumulation in the filters, and the inadequate chlorination due to lack of adequate monitoring monitoring of the residual chlorine in of chlorine residuals in distribution systems distribution system will be implemented according to the established procedure by RA MoH  Delivery of water to distribution system, which is corrosive + During the exploitation of this system, any due to inadequate attention to feeding of corrective chemical materials aren’t used for the chemicals treatment of the water

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Screening Questions Yes N/A No Remarks  Accidental leakage of chlorine gas + Not anticipated, if technical safety is provided.  Excessive abstraction of water affecting downstream water + The project of the system reconstruction is users? elaborated for excluding such situations  Competition of water utilization + The aim of the project is to alleviate/mitigate the competition of water utilization  Increase of sewage water flow as a result of water supply + The waste water amount in Talin town will increase increase but not exceed the limits of the operating sewage system capacity.  Origination of silts in sewage treatment stations and increase + There do not exist any sewage treatment of household waters (cooking and washing water) stations in the settlements included in the project  Large population influx during project construction and + The project deals with reconstructions of operation that causes increased burden on social existing systems in a small scale, a new infrastructure and services (such as water supply and social impacts are not anticipated. sanitation systems)  Social conflicts if workers from other regions or countries are + Mainly a local labor will be engaged hired  Risks to community health and safety due to the transport, + The risks will be decreased to the storage, and use and/or disposal of materials such as minimum in case of maintaining the rules explosives, fuel and other chemicals during operation and of safety when using explosives, fuel and construction other chemical materials utilized within the scope of the project  Community safety risks due to both accidental and natural + The risks will be decreased to the hazards, especially where the structural elements or minimum in case of maintaining the rules components of the project are accessible to members of the of safety when using, transporting and affected community or where their failure could result in preserving the explosives, fuel and other injury to the community throughout project construction, chemical materials utilized within the operation and decommissioning. scope of the project.

Climate Change and Disaster Risk Questions Yes No Notes

The following questions do not concern the ecological classification. They are included in this checklist to help identify potential climate and disaster risks.  Is the Project area subject to hazards such as earthquakes, + Armenia is situated in an active tectonic floods, landslides, tropical cyclone winds, storm surges, tsunami zone and can undergo dangers with all or volcanic eruptions and climate changes the possible consequences  Could changes in temperature, precipitation, or extreme events + The shortage of precipitations can patterns over the Project lifespan affect technical or financial cause water shortages in the resources sustainability (e.g., changes in rainfall patterns disrupt reliability of which will result in changes of the water water supply; sea level rise creates salinity intrusion into proposed supply stability water supply source) . Are there any demographic or socio-economic aspects of the + Project area that are already vulnerable (e.g., high incidence of marginalized populations, rural-urban migrants, illegal settlements, ethnic minorities, women or children) . Could the Project potentially increase the climate or disaster + vulnerability of the surrounding area (e.g., by using water from a vulnerable source that is relied upon by many user groups, or encouraging settlement in earthquake zones). *Hazards are potentially damaging physical events.

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Appendix 2: Checklist for Preliminary Climate Risk Screening

Country/Project Title: Armenia/ Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing Sector: Water supply and other municipal infrastructure and services Subsector: Urban policy, institutional and capacity development, Urban water supply Division/Department: Environmental and Social Impact

Screening Questions Score Remarks1 Location Is siting and/or routing of the project (or its 0 N/A for this project and components) likely to be affected by climate Design of conditions including extreme weather related project events such as floods, droughts, storms, landslides? Would the project design (e.g. the clearance for 0 N/A for this project bridges) need to consider any hydro- meteorological parameters (e.g., sea-level, peak river flow, reliable water level, peak wind speed etc)? Materials Would weather, current and likely future climate 1 Selection of construction and conditions (e.g. prevailing humidity level, materials and design decisions Maintenan temperature contrast between hot summer (ex. Prior identification of soil ce days and cold winter days, exposure to wind freezing depth) should be and humidity hydro-meteorological parameters made taking into account the likely affect the selection of project inputs over climatic conditions of the life of project outputs (e.g. construction settlements, thus mitigating material)? the risks. Would weather, current and likely future climate 0 N/A for this project conditions, and related extreme events likely affect the maintenance (scheduling and cost) of project output(s)? Performan Would weather/climate conditions and related 0 N/A for this project ce of extreme events likely affect the performance project (e.g. annual power production) of project outputs output(s) (e.g. hydro-power generation facilities) throughout their design life time? Options for answers and corresponding score are provided below: Response Score Not Likely 0 Likely 1 Very Likely 2 Responses when added that provide a score of 0 will be considered low risk project. If adding all responses will result to a score of 1-4 and that no score of 2 was given to any single response, the project will be assigned a medium risk category. A total score of 5 or more (which include providing a score of 1 in all responses) or a 2 in any single response, will be categorized as high risk project.

Result of Initial Screening (Low, Medium, High): _1____ Medium ______

Other comments: ______Prepared by: Kristine Sahakayan (HGSN LLC environmental specialist)

1 If possible, provide details on the sensitivity of project components to climate conditions, such as how climate parameters are considered in design standards for infrastructure components, how changes in key climate parameters and sea level might affect the siting/routing of project, the selection of construction material and/or scheduling, performances and/or the maintenance cost/scheduling of project outputs.

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 15 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

Appendix 3.1. Aragatsotn subproject layout

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 16 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

Appendix 3.2. Aragatsotn subproject layout (external waterlines)

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 17 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 18 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 19 HGSN Ltd. -JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing

Subproject X -Preliminary Design 20