Initial Environmental Examination July 2019 AFG: Arghandab Integrated Water Resources Development Project Output 2: Reliability of irrigation water supply increased Output 3: Agricultural water productivity improved Prepared by the Ministry of Finance, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 9 July 2019) Currency unit – afghani (AF) AF1.00 = $0.0124545099 $1.00 = AF80.2922 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank AIS – Arghandab Irrigation System ANSI – American National Standards Institute ARAZI – Afghan Land Authority ASBA – Arghandab Sub-basin Agency AUWSSC – Afghanistan Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation CIDA – Canadian International Development Agency DABS – Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat DFID – Department for International Development (UK) EHS guidelines – Environmental, Health, and Safety guidelines EIA – Environmental impact assessment EMP – Environment management plan EWS – Early Warning System GAP – Good Agricultural Practices GHG – Greenhouse Gas GRM – Grievance redress mechanism IA – Implementing agency IBAT – Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool IEE – Initial environmental examination IFC – International Finance Corporation IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature JICA – Japan International Cooperation Agency LARP – Land Acquisition and Resettlement Plan MAIL – Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock MASL – Meters above sea level MEW – Ministry of Energy and Water MOF – Ministry of Finance NEPA – National Environmental Protection Agency OCHA – United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs O&M – Operation and maintenance PMU – Project Management Unit SPS – Safeguard Policy Statement TDS – Total Dissolved Solid TOR – Terms of Reference TRTA – Transaction Technical Assistance UAE – United Arab Emirates – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural UNESCO Organization UNMACA – United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan USAID – United States Agency for International Development USACE – US Army Corps of Engineers WHO – World Health Organization WUA – Water User Associations WEIGHTS AND MEASURES oC – Degree Celsius m3 – Cubic meter ha – Hectare, 10,000 m2 km – Kilometer m – Meter GLOSSARY Mirab – Water Master or Water Bailiff Shura – Community Development Council NOTE (i) In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. This environmental impact assessment is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Government) requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Transaction Technical Assistance (TRTA) to prepare a project to improve water resources management, irrigated agriculture, water supply for Kandahar City, and to augment electric power in Kandahar City and the surrounding area. The contract for consulting services for TA-9273 AFG: Preparing the Arghandab Integrated Water Resources Development Investment Project was signed on 20 September 2017 between ADB and FCG ANZDEC Limited from New Zealand to design a project suitable for funding. Under the project, ADB resources or ADB administered resources will finance the following Outputs: (i) Dahla Dam capacity increased, (ii) reliability of irrigation water supply increased, (iii) agricultural water productivity improved, and (iv) capacity in water resource management and use strengthened. Other investments not financed by this project but prepared by ADB and being implemented in parallel, will provide Kandahar with an urban and industrial water supply, and bring additional power generation capacity for Kandahar City and its surroundings. Separate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) have been prepared for each project investment component. Raising the dam will provide an additional 500 million m3 water to Dahla reservoir. By increasing storage volume, the project aims at improving water management and water allocations throughout the year as compared to the existing situation. Output 1 is classified as ADB category A due to anticipated irreversible, diverse, or unprecedented impacts from raising the existing dam’s height by 13.6 m and related infrastructure. Buildings in several villages will be affected, as well as several hectares of irrigable land surrounding the reservoir. A draft EIA has been prepared accordingly. Under Output 2, for both the Arghandab Irrigation System (AIS) and the community-managed systems, the project will modernize irrigation infrastructure, monitoring and control systems, and increase climate resilience for all farmers, including planning and delivery of water in a timely manner to 90% of AIS area farmers. There are two sub-components: (i) support to the AIS operating entity for improvement of irrigation and drainage services; and (ii) support to village communities for improvement of community irrigation services. Outputs 3 (Agricultural water productivity improved) and 4 (Capacity in water resource management and use strengthened) do not entail any infrastructure development or construction activities and thus, no environmental impacts are anticipated on Outputs 3 and 4 of the proposed project. In this regard, this IEE is mainly focused on details of Output 2, classified category B as per ADB safeguards policy. Project Context and Impacts Agriculture is the main source of livelihood and survival for 80% of the population that lives in rural areas of Afghanistan. It is a crucial sector for national food security and economic growth. However, agricultural production faces problems of water shortages mainly during the latter half (summer) of the planting period. The issue is the wastage of water due to aging of irrigation facilities and disorganized irrigation practices. Inadequate structures and systems to supply correct amounts of water result in areas that are over-irrigated as well as areas that do not receive adequate water for crop production, resulting in inefficient use of agricultural inputs. Soil salinization due to poor drainage and over-irrigation, as well as soil and land degradation due to canal bank erosion are priority issues in five provinces - Helmand, Ghazni, Faryab, Shaberghan, and Kandahar. Crop cultivation and watering technologies are outdated and inefficient. Therefore, the efficient use of limited water resources is an issue of paramount importance. Outputs 2 and 3 of the project aims to improve the productive use of water in agriculture in the Arghandab Sub-Basin, with four sets of activities: (i) improving irrigation water supply through rehabilitation and modernization of AIS canals, gates, offtakes, related primary irrigation infrastructure, and the infrastructure of community-managed irrigation systems; (ii) increasing climate resiliency and water use efficiency through introduction of on-farm irrigation technologies; (iii) strengthening post-farm value chains through investments in storage, agro-processing and access to markets; and (iv) increasing capacity in water resource management and use. A set of climate-smart options for investment will be conducted which potentially will have transformational impact on agriculture productivity. Sustainable, environmentally friendly farming will be implemented to maximize farming and value chain benefits from improved irrigation across the command area. Improved and sustainable tillage techniques, good agricultural practices (GAP), integrated pest management (IPM), and integrated crop nutrition (ICN) technology will be introduced. Drip and micro-irrigation will be promoted, together with precision soil moisture sensors and delivery controls to optimize water for crop needs. Laser levelling of fields will also be promoted to remove high underwatered areas and low areas where ponding and excessive evaporation occurs. The major benefits of these irrigation technologies include an increased yield, water saving, improved quality, fertilizer application efficiency, energy conservation, reduced labor costs, uniformity of water application, improved disease and pest control, feasibility of irrigating difficult terrain, and improved tolerance to salinity. Farmer and irrigation surveys1 have been conducted to provide adequate insight into the present condition of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure of the community irrigation schemes and to identify the scope for improvement of the irrigation infrastructure. Output 2 Impacts The total land acquisition required for the project is 35,940 m2. This irrigated land owned by two sizeable farmers is required for the construction of the 600 m Babawali wasteway. The project will also affect a total of 495 entities which includes 167 businesses, 4 homes, and 2 greenhouses occupying state land; and 322 affected persons living on private land across the road on the other side of the canal embankment, who will lose trees planted on the state- owned embankment. A mosque and a small cluster of graves, both on state land, are also impacted. IEE Methodology and Report A field visit to Kandahar was conducted