1. Kei Rd Draft EIA Report Final Version Feb2016 Final 0.Pdf
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CEN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT UNIT Environmental and Rural Development Specialist DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT: PROPOSED KEI ROAD WATER TREATMENT WORKS AND CONVEYANCE FOR THE BUFFALO CITY MUNICIPALITY, EASTERN CAPE DEDEAT REFERENCE NO: EC/4/A/LN1,LN2,LN3/M/14-35 February 2016 Project Title: Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report: Proposed Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance for the Buffalo City Municipality, Eastern Cape Project Applicant: Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) DEDEAT Reference Number: EC/4/A/LN1,LN2,LN3/M/14-35 Environmental Assessment Practitioner: CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit 36 River Road, Walmer, Port Elizabeth, 6070 South Africa Phone (041) 581-2983 • Fax 086 504 2549 E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] Compiled by: Lucille Behrens Reviewed by: Dr Mike Cohen Date of Report: 8 February 2016 CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROPOSED PROJECT The Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance Project seeks to improve the treated drinking water supply to the Upper Buffalo Water Supply Scheme. The project concept was previously identified in the water services master planning conducted by Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), to meet the growing water demand anticipated for the Bhisho and Berlin areas. The proposed project is located within the Eastern Cape, extending over the borders of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Amathole District Municipality and Amahlati Local Municipality. The proposed route for the water pipelines will be from the Wriggleswade Transfer Canal to the proposed WTW at Border Post, and from the WTW through to Bhisho and Berlin (refer to Figure 2-1). The proposed water supply scheme would require a treatment capacity of 48 Mℓ/day with an ultimate demand of about 11.62 million m3/annum. The proposed project entails the following, and will be undertaken in three phases: a) Construction of a new Water Treatment Works (WTW), consisting of three 16Ml/d modules, total capacity is 48 Ml. This will be undertaken in three phases, where each phase consists of 16Ml/day (Phase 1: 16Ml/day, Phase 2: 32Ml/day and Phase 3: 48Ml/day). b) Silt waste from the backwash recovery tank and the sedimentation tank will be sent to process silt lagoons which will be located downhill from the WTW. Three lagoons will be provided for each phase. The Phase 1 lagoon consists of four compartments, catering to the Phase 1 loading only, with a wet loading period of 3 months per compartment, and a drying period of 9 months. Thus the compartments are sized for a 12 month period, with three-monthly silt removal periods proposed. For Phases 2 and 3, the loading on the silt lagoons will be reviewed and the future lagoons will be sized accordingly. It is anticipated that the design for Phase 1 is very conservative and that the lagoon requirements for Phase 2 and Phase 3 will be much less than was allowed for in Phase 1. c) Construction of a raw water storage dam (in two phases), a total capacity of 609 Ml (in order to meet the DWS requirements for 21 days of storage at AADD, 29 Ml). Initially the dam will be constructed to cater for a capacity of 407Ml (in order to meet a 14 day storage period at Phase 3 AADD, 29Ml/d). Draft EIA Report: Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance for the BCMM 3 CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit d) Construction of pipeline for supply of raw water from the Kei Road Canal to the proposed WTW. e) Construction of bulk potable water pipelines from the WTW to Bhisho and Berlin. f) Pipeline diameters will be in the order of between 315mm and 700mm. Installation will be below ground and traverse farm land, water courses, rural villages and national roads. g) Construction of a potable water reservoir, 4 Ml capacity, at ground level and two 450 kl elevated tanks at Berlin. The proposed project has been expanded to include the following in order to connect to existing rural water supply networks: Option A: Nompumelelo Reservoir via Mjali Borehole a) A proposed 350mm ND, 780m long gravity pipeline from the proposed potable bulk pipeline, to the Mjali borehole, where it will be fed into an existing rising main that leads to Mjali, to feed the BCMM rural areas (Mjali, Tukayi, Phantsikwa Train, Empgengepenge, Drayini, Village, Nkqonkqweni, Sixekweni). Upgrades to the existing Mjali borehole pump may be required, as well as the construction of a pump sump structure. b) A new 3Ml reservoir (with a fenced area of 0.36ha) will have to be constructed at the site of the current Mjali reservoir, to feed the BCMM rural areas such as Mjali, Tukayi, Phantsikwa Train, Empgengepenge, Drayini, Village, Nkqonkqweni, and Sixekweni. c) A proposed 400mm ND, 1700m long rising main from the Mjali borehole to the Nompumelelo reservoir, to feed ADM rural areas as well as BCMM rural areas such as Peelton. d) A proposed new 6Ml reservoir (0.64ha) at the Nompumelelo reservoir site, in order to provide water to the ADM rural areas as well as BCMM rural areas (Peelton/Mdange). e) A proposed offtake position for the supply of potable water to BCMM rural areas at Hanover, including a 110mm DN pipe from the potable bulk pipeline to a proposed new storage reservoir. f) A proposed new 600kl storage reservoir (approximately 100m2) at Hanover. g) A proposed offtake position for the supply of potable water to BCMM rural areas at Kings Cross. No additional supply pipelines will be included. Draft EIA Report: Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance for the BCMM 4 CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit Option B: Border Post BPT via Border Post WTW Pump Station a) The construction of a pump station at the Border Post WTW. b) A proposed 400mm DN, 1600m long rising main from the Border Post WTW pump station to the Border Post Break Pressure Tank (BPT). c) A 6Ml reservoir (0.64ha) at the Border Post Break Pressure Tank site, adjacent to the current BPT (existing 500kl Border Post reservoir). d) A 50kl Break Pressure Tank, to feed a gravity main to Mjali e) A splitting chamber to split the water from the rising main between the 6Ml reservoir and the 50kl Break Pressure Tank f) A proposed 250mm DN, 4400m long gravity main from the new Border Post BPT to the Mjali reservoir, to feed the Mjali area. g) A new 3Ml reservoir (0.36ha) will have to be constructed at the site of the current Mjali reservoir, to feed the BCMM rural areas such as Mjali, Tukayi, Phantsikwa Train, Empgengepenge, Drayini, Village, Nkqonkqweni, Sixekweni h) Peelton, Nompumelelo and the ADM rural areas will be fed from the Border Post reservoir via the existing water network. i) A proposed offtake position for the supply of potable water to BCMM rural areas at Hanover, including a 110mm DN pipe from the potable water pipeline to a proposed new storage reservoir. j) A proposed new 600kl storage reservoir (approximately 100m2) at Hanover. k) A proposed offtake position for the supply of potable water to BCMM rural areas at Kings Cross. No additional supply pipelines will be included. Draft EIA Report: Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance for the BCMM 5 CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit Draft EIA Report: Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance for the BCMM 6 CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit NEED AND DESIRABILITY Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality recently completed a water services master plan for the King William’s Town area. A key recommendation of this plan was to develop a regional Water Treatment Works in the Kei Road area to meet the growing water demand anticipated for the Bhisho and Berlin areas and to maximise the supply of treated water to the Upper Buffalo Water Supply Scheme. The water would be sourced from the Wriggleswade Transfer Canal and conveyed from there to the Bhisho area. This project seeks to improve the water supply scheme to Bhisho and Berlin, as well as certain rural communities north of Bhisho (Aurecon, 2014). The proposed Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance Project (Water Supply Scheme) is identified in the Integrated Development Plan [IDP], 2014 and the Water Services Development Plan. The IDP (2014) identifies the King Williams Town / Bhisho area as a Priority Area, where the BCMM needs to ensure sufficient bulk infrastructure is available to support the initiative of consolidating Bhisho as the Administrative Capital of the Eastern Cape. An additional objective that will be met in the IDP through the Kei Road Water Treatment Works and Conveyance Project is the provision of high quality water drinking water in the BCMM and to ensure universal access to potable water (IDP, 2014). According to the Buffalo City Spatial Development Framework [SDF], 2003/2004, the proposed Kei Road WTW, raw water dams and the majority of the pipeline routes are located outside of the BCMM urban edge. A small portion of the proposed pipeline routes traverse within urban edge areas. The proposed raw water pipeline, WTW and raw water dam site, as well as the northern portion of the potable water pipeline route are located on a Planned Rural Development Zone. The potable water pipeline route further traverses across ‘designed and proposed protected areas’, ‘conservancy network – STEP / Limited Agriculture’, settlements and ‘other agricultural’ areas. ALTERNATIVES The “No-Go” approach entails that the proposed Kei Road WTW and Conveyance is not developed in the area, i.e. that no development as per the proposal is undertaken and the status quo remains. Three sites for the raw water storage dam were initially identified as alternative sites in the Scoping Phase, with a fourth site being added during the EIA Phase.