Sustainable Wastewater Management Project Construction and Operation of Telavi Wastewater Treatment Plant (with a Design Capacity of 14 400 m3/d) Environmental Impact Assessment Report “Gamma Consulting” Ltd Director Z. Mgaloblishvili Tbilisi 2017 “Gamma Consulting” Ltd 17A D. Guramishvili av. 0192 Tbilisi, Georgia Tel: +(995 32) 260 44 33; 260 15 27 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] www.gamma.ge; www.facebook.com/gammaconsultingGeorgia EIA Telavi WWTP i Table of Contents Non-technical Summary ................................................................................................................................... i 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Legal and Administrative Aspects ......................................................................................................... 3 2.1 National Environmental Legislation ................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 World Bank Safeguard Policies ........................................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Gaps between the National Environmental Legislation and WB Requirements: ............................................. 8 3 Project Alternatives ............................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 No Action Alternative........................................................................................................................................ 10 3.2 Alternatives for the Location of the Treatment Plant...................................................................................... 10 3.3 Technological Alternatives for Wastewater Treatment................................................................................... 13 4 Description of the Adopted Alternative ............................................................................................. 18 4.1 General Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 18 4.2 Brief Description of Telavi WWTP Project...................................................................................................... 20 4.3 Brief Description of Wastewater Treatment Process ....................................................................................... 22 4.4 Organization of Construction Works................................................................................................................ 25 5 Description of Environmental Baseline .............................................................................................. 30 5.1 Physical-Geographical Environment ................................................................................................................ 31 5.1.1 Climate and Meteorological Conditions............................................................................................... 31 5.1.2 Geology .................................................................................................................................................. 33 5.1.3 Hydrology .............................................................................................................................................. 38 5.1.4 Soils ........................................................................................................................................................ 41 5.2 Description of Biological Environment............................................................................................................. 41 5.2.1 Vegetation Cover................................................................................................................................... 41 5.2.2 Fauna...................................................................................................................................................... 46 5.2.3 Protected Areas...................................................................................................................................... 48 5.3 Description of the Socio-Economic Environment............................................................................................ 48 5.3.1 Population.............................................................................................................................................. 48 5.3.2 Migration ............................................................................................................................................... 49 5.3.3 Employment Rate.................................................................................................................................. 49 5.3.4 Economics.............................................................................................................................................. 49 5.3.5 Agriculture............................................................................................................................................. 50 5.3.6 Healthcare and Social Welfare ............................................................................................................. 50 5.3.7 Tourism.................................................................................................................................................. 51 5.3.8 Waste Management............................................................................................................................... 51 5.3.9 Historical Cultural Heritage Monuments............................................................................................. 51 6 Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology.............................................................................. 52 6.1 General Principles of EIA Methodology ........................................................................................................... 52 6.2 Impact Receptors and their Sensitivity ............................................................................................................. 52 6.3 Characterization of the Impact.......................................................................................................................... 53 6.4 Methods and Assessment Criteria Used for Calculation of Emissions in Ambient Air .................................. 53 6.5 Assessment Criteria and Methods Used during Calculations of Noise Propagation ....................................... 54 6.6 Alazani River Water Quality Impact Assessment Methodology and Criteria on WWTP Operation Phase. 55 6.7 Groundwater Impact Assessment Methodology............................................................................................... 56 6.8 Soil Impact Assessment Methodology............................................................................................................... 56 6.9 Engineering-Geological Survey Methodology and Assessment Criteria ......................................................... 57 6.10 Visual-landscape Alteration Assessment Methodology................................................................................ 58 6.11 Assessment Methodology for Biological Environment Impact .................................................................... 58 6.12 Assessment Methodology for the Socio-economic Environment Impact.................................................... 61 6.13 Assessment Methodology for the Impact on Cultural Heritage Monuments .............................................. 62 EIA Telavi WWTP ii 7 Environmental Impact Assessment and Analysis............................................................................... 62 7.1 Impact on Ambient Air Quality ........................................................................................................................ 62 7.1.1 Mitigation Measures.............................................................................................................................. 66 7.1.2 Impact Assessment ................................................................................................................................ 67 7.2 Impact of Noise Propagation ............................................................................................................................. 68 7.2.1 Mitigation Measures.............................................................................................................................. 68 7.2.2 Impact Assessment ................................................................................................................................ 70 7.3 Impact on Surface Water ................................................................................................................................... 71 7.3.1 Mitigation Measures.............................................................................................................................. 72 7.3.2 Impact Assessment ................................................................................................................................ 74 7.4 Impact on Groundwater .................................................................................................................................... 75 7.4.1 Mitigation Measures.............................................................................................................................