Environmental Impact Assessment of construction of the water storage basins in five pilot districts proposed for ADA funding under the project “Promotion of climate change and disaster risk reduction solutions in the water and civil protection sectors for enhanced rural resilience” prepared for UNDP Moldova Chisinau December 2019 1 Table of Contents ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 4 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 5 2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 11 3 POLICY, LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................. 12 3.1 Policy Framework .............................................................................................................................. 12 3.2 National Regulatory Framework ....................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Institutional Framework .................................................................................................................... 18 4 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE ........................................................... 23 4.1 Screening ........................................................................................................................................... 23 4.2 Environmental Impact Assessment ................................................................................................... 23 4.3 State Ecological Expertise .................................................................................................................. 24 5 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 26 5.1 Environmental Impact Assessment Stages ....................................................................................... 26 5.2 Criteria for the Risk and Impact Assessment .................................................................................... 26 5.3 Risk Rating ......................................................................................................................................... 29 5.4 Mitigation Measures and Residual Impacts ...................................................................................... 30 5.5 Gaps and Uncertainties during the preparation of current generic EIA ........................................... 30 6 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................................................. 31 7 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PILOT DISTRICTS ................................................................................... 34 7.1 Brief overview of pilot districts ......................................................................................................... 34 7.2 Geology ............................................................................................................................................. 35 7.3 Relief and Landscape ......................................................................................................................... 35 7.4 Climate and Weather ........................................................................................................................ 36 7.5 Soil ..................................................................................................................................................... 39 7.6 Hydrology and Water Resources ....................................................................................................... 40 7.6.1 Ungheni district ......................................................................................................................... 40 7.6.2 Hancesti district ......................................................................................................................... 40 7.6.3 Criuleni district .......................................................................................................................... 41 7.6.4 Leova district ............................................................................................................................. 41 7.6.5 Cantemir district ........................................................................................................................ 42 2 7.7 Natural Protected Areas, Fauna and Flora ........................................................................................ 42 7.7.1 Ungheni district ......................................................................................................................... 42 7.7.2 Hancesti district ......................................................................................................................... 43 7.7.3 Criuleni district .......................................................................................................................... 44 7.7.4 Leova district ............................................................................................................................. 45 7.7.5 Cantemir district ........................................................................................................................ 45 7.8 Land use ............................................................................................................................................ 46 7.9 Socio-Economic Background ............................................................................................................. 47 7.9.1 Main socio-economic indices of the country ............................................................................ 47 7.9.2 Socio-Economic Background in Pilot District ............................................................................ 50 8 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS AND RISKS ............................................................................... 53 8.1 General remark ................................................................................................................................. 53 8.2 Important Environmental and Socio-Economic Components ........................................................... 53 8.3 Primarily affected IESEC .................................................................................................................... 53 8.4 Project Positive Impacts .................................................................................................................... 53 8.5 Project Negative impacts .................................................................................................................. 55 8.6 Potential Cumulative Impacts ........................................................................................................... 57 8.7 Potential Residual Impacts ................................................................................................................ 58 8.8 Potential Gedner Equality and Social Inclusion Impacts ................................................................... 58 9 IMPACT AND RISK ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................... 59 10 POSSIBLE CONFLICTS FOR THE 2-FUNCTIONAL USE OF THE WATER STORAGE BASINS ....................... 75 11 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES ................................................................................................................. 76 12 IMPACTS MITIGATION ........................................................................................................................... 77 13 BRIEF IMPACT STATEMENT, MITIGATION MEASURES AND MONITORING .......................................... 83 14 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE MONITORING .................................................................................... 95 15 EIA PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND DISCLOSURE ..................................................................................... 99 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 100 ANNEXES ......................................................................................................................................................... 102 Annex 1. List of persons who prepared the EIA Annex 2. Overview of the Public Consultation Meetings 3 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ACSA National Agency for Rural Development ADA Austrian Development Agency ADC Austrian Development Cooperation CALM Congress of Local Authorities in Moldova CPA Central Public Authority CSDI Cold spell duration EA Environmental Agency EIA Environmental Impact Assessment FD Frost days GIES General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations GMO Genetically Modified Organisms ID Ice days IESEC Important Environmental and Socio-Economic Components IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature LPA Local Public Authority MARDE Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment MDL Moldovan Lei M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NGO Non-governmental Organization NFFM National Farmers Federation of Moldova RDA Regional Development Agency RMSP Risk Management and Sustainability Plan SDG Sustainable Development Goals SDR South Development Region SEE