Initial Environmental Examination October 2013 ARM: Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project- Additional Financing Prepared by the State Committee Of Water System under the RA Ministry for Territorial Governance for the Asian Development Bank. This initial environmental examination 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. STATE COMMITTEE OF WATER SYSTEM UNDER THE RA MINISTRY FOR TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE “ARMWATERSEWERAGE” CJSC ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDED WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SECTOR PROJECT- ADDITIONAL FINANCING Date of preparation 15.04.2013 Date of revision 27.10.3013 III SUBPROJECT L2860-ICB-1-04: IMPROVEMENT OF LORI REGION SETTLEMENTS WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION Yerevan October, 2013 JINJ LTD. STATE COMMITTEE OF WATER SYSTEM UNDER THE RA MINISTRY FOR TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE “ARMWATERSEWERAGE” CJSC Table of Content 1. SCOPE OF WORK ........................................................................................................... 3 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS .......................................................................................................... 4 2.1 External Water Supply System .................................................................................... 4 2.1.1. Water supply system of Town Alaverdi and surrounding villages ...................... 4 2.1.2. Town Stepanavans water supply system .............................................................. 4 2.1.3. Water supply system of rural communities in Tashir region................................ 5 2.2 Brief description of Water Supply Distribution Network ............................................ 6 2.2.1. Alaverdi sub-area .................................................................................................. 6 2.2.2. Stepanavan sub-area ............................................................................................. 7 2.2.3. Wastewater system ............................................................................................... 8 3. THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND CLIMATE OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS ....................................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Alaverdi sub-area ......................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Stepanavan sub-area .................................................................................................. 10 4. BIODIVERSITY AND SPECIALLY PROTECTED AREAS ................................... 11 4.1 Geological conditions ................................................................................................ 11 4.1.1. Alaverdi sub-area ................................................................................................ 11 4.1.1. Stepanavan sub-area ........................................................................................... 12 4.2 Protected areas and biodiversity ................................................................................ 12 4.2.1. Alaverdi sub-area ................................................................................................ 13 4.2.2. Stepanavan sub-area ........................................................................................... 13 4.2.3. Aquatic ecosystems ............................................................................................ 13 4.2.4. Historical monuments ......................................................................................... 14 5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT .......................................................... 14 5.1 Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) Checklist ................................................. 16 List of Tables Table 1. The number of population in Alaverdi sub-area......................................................... 10 Table 2. The number of population in Stepanavan sub-area .................................................... 11 List of Figures Figure 1. Lori subproject layout ............................................................................................... 20 HGSN Ltd. - JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing 1. SCOPE OF WORK This initial environmental examination report was developed within the project on “Improvement of water supply and sanitation systems of Towns Alaverdi and Stepanavan and eight nearby villages in the RA Lori marz” funded by ADB and ordered by AWS CJSC. The purpose of this project is improvement of drinking water supply and sanitation systems of towns Stepanavan, Tashir, and Alaverdi and 8 adjacent villages provide the population with sustainable water supply and safe drinking water. To achieve this goal, the following is planned: In External water supply system Dismantling of the non-operational structures exiting in Hovdara-Metsavan and Hovdara-Sarchapet systems, construction of pressure reducing chamber and chlorination station, reconstruction of emergency segments of water mains, establishment of one common system. Reconstruction of emergency segments of inlet lines of the residential areas. In town Alaverdi Reconstruction of distribution networks, reconstruction and dismantling of DRRs in the I, II, III and IV zones Construction of about 10.0km long polyethylene and steel water lines. Replacement of 82 multi-apartment blocks’ inlet lines. Installation of water metering nodes for 405 customers. Construction of 19 water supply chambers Construction of 4 pressure regulation chambers. Construction of 86 buried valves. In town Stepamavan Reconstruction of distribution networks in the II and III zones, construction and reconstruction of DRRs and pump station. Construction of about 9.5km long polyethylene distribution network water lines. Construction of 10 multi-apartment blocks’ inlet lines. Construction of inlet lines of 150 private houses. Construction of 35 water supply chambers Construction of 12 buried valves. In Alaverdi region’s Arevatsag, Odzun, Teghut, Shnogh villages, Tashir region’s Metsavan, Sarchapet, Lernahovit Spitak’s Mets Parni villages the following is planned: Construction of a new DRR and reconstruction of the existing ones. Construction of new pump stations. Construction of polyethylene water lines of different diameters. Installation of water metering nodes for customers. Construction of water supply and pressure regulation chambers. As a result of the project implementation it is planned to provide drinking water supply to the settlements and to improve water distribution and metering systems. III Sub-project – Initial EnvironmentalExamination 3 HGSN Ltd. - JINJ Ltd. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project - Additional Financing 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS 2.1 External Water Supply System 2.1.1. Water supply system of Town Alaverdi and surrounding villages Towns Alaverdi and Akhtala and the villages adjacent to them are supplied from Lori-Berd underground springs, the headwork structures of which are composed of 19 spring-intakes, water collecting pipe work, pressure reducing chamber and chlorination station. The 32 km long transmission main begins from the sources and passing through Odzun village reaches Alaverdi town, and then continues to Noyemberyan town some 43 km further. The diameter of the transmission main is variable - 500-700mm. The present flow through the main is 200l/s, however it will increase by 30% as a result of spring intakes repair. Presently the transmission main operates at full capacity. 2.1.2. Town Stepanavans water supply system The water supply to Stepanavan town is provided by means of three systems: Novoseltsovo- Stepanavan (gravity), Gyulidara-Stepanavan (gravity), and Getavan-Stepanavan (pumping) systems. Novoseltsovo-Stepanavan gravity system starts within the area of Novoseltsovovillage from the water springs located at a distance of 13km from Stepanavan town. The mentioned springs are composed of 32 spring-intakes and 7 self-flowing deep springs. Currently 30-40% of the captured amount of water from these springs is supplied to Stepanavan. The total flow from these spring intakes (400l/s) is transferred through 9.0km long steel pipeline and cumulated into the water collecting chamber. Before entering the water intake chamber, 120l/s water amount is conveyed towards Stepanavan town through the regulating valve. This transmission main passes on the left bank of the River Dzoraget and coming out of the gorge splits into two branches. Within Stepanavan town area the transmission main continues up to the reservoirs with the capacity of 2x400m3. The gravity water from the Novoseltsovo sources is chlorinated by means of ALLDOS chlorination equipment installed within the territory of the Aksyutin PS area The total area of Novoseltsovo’s sanitary zone is 18ha. Getavan-Stepanavan mechanical system starts from Getavan pump station located at 5km from Stepanavan. Instead of being supplied