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Environmental Baseline (Revised) SFG1040 Public Disclosure Authorized Environmental Baseline (Revised) Environmental Assessment for River Management Improvement Program Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Environmental Baseline (revised) Environmental Assessment for River Management Improvement Program Submitted to Joint Venture Fichtner – Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery & Restoration Project (ECRRP) Bangladesh Water Development Board Submitted by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Bangladesh Country Office House 16 Road 2/3, Banani, Dhaka 1213. Phone: +8802 9890423 9890395 9852743; Fax: +8802 9892854 Web: www.iucn.org/bangladesh/ April 2015 Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program Study Team Mr. Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmad, Study Advisor Mr. Mohammad Shahad Mahabub Chowdhury, Study Coordinator & Fisheries Specialist Mr. Sunil Baran Debroy, Technical Specialist-Water Resources Ms. Bushra Nishat, Technical Specialist-Civil Work, Climate Change and Environment Prof. Dr. Monirul I. Khan, Social Scientist Dr. Nowsher Ali Sarder, Agriculture Specialist Prof. Dr. M. Monirul H. Khan, Ecologist (Wildlife) Mr. Junaid Kabir Choudhury, Ecologist (Vegetation) Mr. A B M Sarowar Alam, Field Investigator (Ecology) Mr. Ashraful Haque, Field Investigator (Ecology) Mr. Animesh Ghose, Field investigator (Ecology) Mr. Enamul Mazid Khan Siddique, Field Investigator (Sociology) Mr. Sakib Mahmud, Field investigator (Water Resources) Mr. Dibyendu Chattarjee, Field investigator (Agriculture) Mr. Md. Selim Reza, Field Investigator (Fisheries) Mr. Emran Hassan, GIS and RS Associate Mr. Sanjoy Roy, GIS and RS Analyst Mr. Mahmudul Hasan, GIS Assistant Bangladesh Water Development Board iv Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program List of Acronyms AEZ Agro-Ecological Zone amsl Above mean sea level BADC Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation BARI Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics BMD Bangladesh Meteorological Division BNBC Bangladesh National Building Code BRE Brahmaputra Right-bank Embankment BRRI Bangladesh Rice Research Institute BWDB Bangladesh Water Development Board CARINAM Centre for Advanced Research In Natural Resource and Management CEGIS Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services CPUE Catch per unit effort DAE Department of Agricultural Extension DEM Digital elevation model DLS Department of Livestock Services DOE Department of Environment DoF Department of Fisheries, Bangladesh DPHE Department of Public Health Engineering DTW Deep Tube Well EIA Environment Impact Assessment EMF Environmental Management Framework EMP Environmental Management Plan FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FAP Flood Action Plan FFP Fourth Fisheries Project FGD Focus group discussion FHRC Flood Hazard Research Centre FRSS Fisheries Resources Survey System GIS Geographic Information System GoB Government of Bangladesh GSB Geological Survey of Bangladesh Bangladesh Water Development Board v Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program HIES Household Income and Expenditure Survey HL High Land HSC Higher Secondary Certificate HYV High Yielding Variety IEC Important Environmental Component IEE Initial Environmental Examination IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature IWFM Institute of Water and Flood Management KII key informant interview km Kilometer LL Low Land LLP Low Lift Pump MHL Medium Highland MLL Medium Lowland MPO Master Plan Organization NGO Non-governmental organization NiH Nipah Virus PRA Participatory rural appraisal PWD Public Works Department RMIP River Management Improvement Program RRA Rapid Rural Appraisal RS Resettlement Site SAAO Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer SANEM South Asian Network on Economic Modeling SIS Small Indigenous (Fish) Species SSC Secondary School Certificate STW Shallow tube well TSP Triple Super Phosphate/total suspended solids VLL Very Lowland WB World Bank Bangladesh Water Development Board vi Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program Glossary Bed Material The bed material load is the portion of the sediment that is transported by a stream that contains material derived from the bed. Bed material load typically consists of all of the bed load, and the proportion of the suspended load that is represented in the bed sediments. Its importance lies in that its composition is that of the bed, and the material in transport can therefore be actively interchanged with the bed. For this reason, bed material load exerts a control on river channel morphology. Bed load and wash load (the sediment that rides high in the flow and does not extract non- negligible momentum from it) together constitute the total load of sediment in a stream Beel A natural depression, which generally retains water throughout the year and in some cases seasonally connected to the river system. Charland/ Char Char is a tract of land surrounded by a river, sea, lake or stream. The land is developed due to erosion and accretion of river. Khal A drainage or irrigation channel usually small, sometimes man- made. These may or may not be perennial. Kole Kole is a seasonal closed water body separated from river, formed when river water started to dried up; act as nursery and feeding ground for fish and become merged with river again during high flow season. These are generally embayments in chars Sediment wave Sediment often enters channels in large pulses from landslides, fires, and other disturbances. These pulses are accentuated in both time and space in contrast to an increased supply of sediment in the watershed network as a whole. At some time, the sediment from these pulses is going to be transmitted via a sediment wave that translates and disperses Bangladesh Water Development Board vii Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program Contents List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................v Glossary .......................................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1. Project Background ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2. The Proposed Project and its Location ......................................................................... 3 1.3. Objectives and Scope of Baseline Report ..................................................................... 5 1.4. Report Structure ........................................................................................................... 5 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................6 2.1. Reconnaissance Field Visit ............................................................................................ 6 2.2. Program Influence Area ................................................................................................ 7 2.3. General Approach for Baseline Data Collection ......................................................... 10 2.4. Secondary Literature review ....................................................................................... 11 2.5. Field Investigations ..................................................................................................... 11 2.6. Soil Quality .................................................................................................................. 11 2.7. Air Quality ................................................................................................................... 11 2.8. Ambient Noise ............................................................................................................ 12 2.9. Water Resources ......................................................................................................... 12 2.9.1. Surface Water ................................................................................................. 12 2.9.2. Groundwater Quality ...................................................................................... 14 2.10. Ecology ........................................................................................................................ 15 2.10.1. Ecologically Sensitive Ecosystem .................................................................... 15 2.10.2. Terrestrial Environment .................................................................................. 15 2.10.3. Aquatic Environment ...................................................................................... 15 2.10.4. Floral Survey .................................................................................................... 16 2.10.5. Charland Survey .............................................................................................. 16 2.10.6. Faunal Survey .................................................................................................. 16 2.10.7. Avifauna .......................................................................................................... 19 Bangladesh Water Development Board viii Environmental and Social Baseline for River Management Improvement Program 2.10.8. Fish and Fisheries Resources ..........................................................................
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