LAC-EA-17-02 APPROVAL OF PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (PEA) Activity Location: Honduras Activity Title: Rainwater Harvesting Infrastructure for Small/Medium-size Farms in Western and Southern Honduras – Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) Life of Activity: FY 2017 – FY 2022 Referenced Environmental Threshold Decision: LAC-IEE-16-65 Date Prepared: March 23, 2017 Purpose and Scope This document approves the programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) for rainwater harvesting infrastructure for small/medium-size farms in western and southern Honduras. It also serves to amend Initial Environmental Examination LAC-IEE-16-65, for USAID/Honduras’ IR 2.1, as well as the IEE for the Global Development Lab’s Rainwater Harvest Project, to incorporate the results of the PEA. Background In June 2015, USAID’s Global Development Lab (GDL) issued an IEE with a positive determination for the Rainwater Harvesting Activity which involved construction of reservoirs in southern Honduras, and subsequently approved an Environmental Assessment (EA) for ten specific reservoir sites. Implementing Partner (IP) Global Communities has been implementing the activity. After the EA was issued, the USAID’s GDL Bureau Environmental Officer, the Regional Environmental Advisor (REA) for Central America, and the Honduras Mission Environmental Officer (MEO) recommended that a broader environmental assessment, notably a programmatic one (PEA), was needed to complement the original EA and provide a more in-depth analysis and integrated guidelines. This PEA can be used by USAID partners such as Global Communities, as well as any other institution, interested in developing rainwater harvesting infrastructure for irrigation, not only in southern and western Honduras, but anywhere in the country. 1 The required Scoping Statement for this PEA was approved in 2016, and the PEA was completed in March 2017. This PEA amends LAC-IEE-16-65 for USAID/Honduras' IR 2.1, as well as the IEE for the Lab's Rainwater Harvesting Project, to include an array of preferred rainwater harvesting alternatives, and hereby satisfies the positive determination from both those documents. Conditions and Requirements The conditions and requirements of the Lab's original EA, and LAC-IEE-16-65, remain in full force. The PEA and the IEE amendment will be implemented in concert with the existing documents. Any conflicts will be resolved by the pertinent USAID office, either the Lab or Honduras Mission. Specific to selection of rainwater harvesting reservoir sites, USAID IPs will employ the criteria outlined in the PEA. Only sites that meet the site selection criteria shall be pre­ selected, and for those sites the IP will prepare a site-specific environmental mitigation and monitoring plan (EMMP), in accordance with the guidelines presented in Annex A of this PEA. The complete EMMP must then be submitted to the pertinent USAID COR for approval. Once approved, the IP will fully :implement the EMMP and conduct monitoring and reporting consistent with its agreement/contract with USAID. This PEA, and the Scoping Statement that preceded it, complies with USAID Environmental Procedures as specified by 22 CFR 216.3(a)(4) and 216.3(a)(5), and also follows the format required in 216.6. The scoping process identifies the potentially significant impacts to be evaluated in the PEA, includin·g an analysis of alternatives and effects. Diana Shannon Bureau Environmental Officer Bureau of Latin America and the Caribbean ,P. v~, ~ J.-1 , 2--01?­ P. V. Sundareshwar Date Bureau Environmental Officer ('A.~) Global Development Lab Attachment: Rainwater Harvesting Infrastructure for Small/Medium-size Farms in Western and Southern Honduras - Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) 2 Signature Page for Rainwater Harvesting PEA Drafted: March 23, 2017 SMendez: DIMEO PHearne: MEO Concurrence: Date: (i ~ Wt}" mes Watson SAID/Honduras Mission Director Mission Clearance: Andrew McKim, EG Date: ~/'cl,.~f;}O!? Peter Hearne, MEO Date: {'4v- )7 diJ1( Anya Glenn, PO Date: 3Jrqj;7 I ' Amy Paro, DMD Date: ~llP/i1I REA Clearance: Joseph Torres, REA Date: 4 /.3 J Z©I + ` USAID/HONDURAS PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (PEA) RAINWATER HARVESTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SMALL/MEDIUM-SIZE FARMS IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN HONDURAS FEBRUARY 2017 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was prepared under USAID’s Global Environmental Management Support (GEMS) contract. FRONT COVER Rainwater Harvesting Reservoir in Southern Region of Honduras. Photo Credit: Michelle Rodríguez, 2016. I USAID/HONDURAS PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (PEA) RAINWATER HARVESTING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SMALL/MEDIUM-SIZE FARMS IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN HONDURAS February 15, 2017 Draft Report Authors David Harris, Sun Mountain International Becky Myton, Sun Mountain International Carlos Cobos, Sun Mountain International Michelle Rodríguez, Sun Mountain International Technical Support Peter Hearne, USAID Mario Ochoa, SAG Honduras Isaac Ferrera, USAID Karen Enríquez, SAG Honduras Sofía Méndez, USAID Kathleen Hurley, The Cadmus Group Angie Murillo, USAID David Scharzman, SAG Honduras César Varela, USAID Conor Walsh, CRS Joe Torres, USAID Darinel Lainez, CRS Alejandro Agüero, Global Communities Héctor Táblas, ACS Mario Noboa, Global Communities Michelle Jaramillo, SMTN E3 Global Environmental Management and Support II (GEMS II) Project, Award Number AID-OAA-13-00018. The Cadmus Group, Inc., prime contractor. Sun Mountain International, principal partner. AND US Global Development Lab “Climate Change Adaptation through Community Rainwater Harvesting Reservoirs,” Award Number AID-OAA-F-14-00027 Grantee: Cooperative Housing Foundation dba Global Communities, The Cadmus Group, Inc. subcontractor to Global Communities (COSECHA-PC-16-01). Sun Mountain International Cadmus Group, Inc. Quiteño Libre E15-108 and Flores Jijón 100 Fifth Avenue, Suite 100 Sector Bellavista Waltham, MA 02451 USA Quito, Ecuador Tel: +1.617-673-7000 Tel 1: 593-22-922-625 Fax: +1.617-673-7001 Cell: 593-9-83-016-562 www.smtn.org Prepared under: The Global Environmental Management Support Project (GEMS), Award Number AID-OAA-M-11-00021. The Cadmus Group, Inc., prime contractor (www.cadmusgroup.com). Sun Mountain International, principal partner (www.smtn.org). DISCLAIMER Until and unless this document is approved by USAID as a 22 CFR 216 Programmatic Environmental Assessment, the contents may not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. II This page is intentionally blank. I TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. VII Background ................................................................................................................................................................................... vii Project area .................................................................................................................................................................................. vii Project Purpose ........................................................................................................................................................................... vii Project Need ................................................................................................................................................................................ vii Proposed Action .......................................................................................................................................................................... vii Issues ............................................................................................................................................................................................. viii Issue 1: Water Flows ..................................................................................................................................................................... viii Issue 2 Water Quality ................................................................................................................................................................... viii Issue 3 Changes in Vegetation Species, Structure and Function ....................................................................................... viii Issue 4: Mosquito Breeding Source ........................................................................................................................................... viii Issue 5: Risk of Dam Failure ....................................................................................................................................................... viii Issue 6: Water Loss to Evaporation ............................................................................................................................................ ix Issue 7: Reservoir Nuisances ......................................................................................................................................................... ix Issue 8: Community and User Conflicts ..................................................................................................................................... ix Issue 9: