Initial Environmental Examination March 2013 (Updated 23 March 2016) Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Greater Mekong Subregion East-West Economic Corridor Agriculture Infrastructure Sector Project Vapy Neua Subproject Prepared by Fraser Thomas Partners Ltd. for the Asian Development Bank. (Updated in February 2016 by Armando Balloffet, PhD, and Somvang THAMMAVONGSA, ADB Consultants) NOTE(s): i. The fiscal year (FY) of the Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic ends on 30 September. FY before a calendar year denotes the year in which the fiscal year ends, e.g., FY2016 ends on 30 September 2016. ii. In this report, "$" refers to US dollars unless otherwise stated. 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. ACRONYMS ADB - Asian Development Bank AISP - Agriculture Infrastructure Sector Project ASEAN - Association of South East Asian Nations Cumec - cubic meters per second DAFO - District Agriculture and Forestry Office DCO - District Coordination Office DOI - Department of Irrigation DOWR - Department of Water Resources E&M - Electrical and Mechanical EA - Executing Agency EDL - Electricité du Laos EMP - Environmental Management Plan EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment EMP - Environmental Management Plan EPL - Environmental Protection Law FWUGs - farmer water user groups GMS-EWEC-AISP - Greater Mekong Sub-region East West Economic Corridor Agricultural Infrastructure Sector Project IA - Implementing Agency IEE - Initial Environmental Examination IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development GoL - Government of Lao PDR IMT - Irrigation Management and Transfer IWRM - Integrated Water Resources Management JICA - Japanese International Cooperation Agency MASL - meters above mean sea level MoNRE - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment NGO - Non-Government Organization NPMO - National Project Management Office NSEDP - National Social and Economic Development Plan NT2 - Nam Theun 2 (Hydropower Project) NTFPs - Non-Timber Forest Products O&M - Operation and Maintenance PAFO - Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry PoNRE - Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment PPMO - Provincial National Project Management Office PPTA - Project Preparation Technical Assistance RC - reinforced concrete SEDP - Socio-economic Development Plan 2010-2015 USD - United States Dollars UXO - Unexploded Ordnance WUG - Water User Group EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Greater Mekong Sub-region East West Economic Corridor Agricultural Infrastructure Sector Project (GMS-EWEC-AISP, or AISP in this document) will comprise improvements to productive rural infrastructure (PRI) and provide technical and advisory support to beneficiary communities in formation and strengthening of water user groups, technical support and capacity building for extension services and support in post-harvest handling, product storage and marketing. It will provide project management support and capacity building for provincial and district level offices which will take a lead role in project implementation, in accordance with the Government’s decentralization policy of 2000. It is a sector project, and specific subprojects for the improvement of productive rural infrastructure in the two project provinces will be prepared and implemented. 2. This document is the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the Vapy Neua productive rural infrastructure subproject (the Project), which involves irrigation scheme rehabilitation and agricultural access road improvement. It was selected as one of three representative subprojects under the project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA). The IEE is prepared according to the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement of June 2009 and the EIA decree of April 2010. This IEE document was updated in February 2016. 3. The Project is located in Vapy District of Saravane Province (see Figure 1 in main text) and was originally constructed in 1997/98. It is a pumped scheme served by a station operating from a moored pontoon located on the Sedone River, a perennial river with regular fluctuations in water level throughout the year. The potential demand has been estimated at 10 million m3 per year. The total existing irrigable area (command area) is in the order of 220ha. Improvements are to include an extension of 50 ha. The improved scheme is designed to have a command area of 270ha, yielding both a wet and a dry season crop, and serving 101 families. 4. The existing Scheme has deteriorated and suffers from inadequate Operation and Maintenance (O&M). The Scheme is laid out in a ‘herringbone’ formation with a central main canal running along the spine serving a series of secondary canals. Water is delivered via a conventional electrically powered pumping plant using a pair of centrifugal pumps mounted on a floating pontoon, a technique commonly used. The overall Scheme is shown in Figure 2 of the main text. Water is pumped into a stilling basin from where it discharges by gravity into the lined main canal. Flow is then distributed by gravity through a set of secondary canals to discrete field blocks. The estimated total length of main, secondary and tertiary canals is 1,036m, 1,930m, and 370m respectively. Flows in the canals are unregulated and the scheme is free-running apart from where temporary measures are used to route flows into specific farm units from some secondary canals. As a consequence, scheme efficiency is low and therefore would incur a higher pumping cost per hectare than necessary. There is a natural collector stream which takes flows from one of the main canals and this serves as the scheme drain. The drain is about 1,990 m long and is likely to have to be relocated as part of the improvement works. 5. The 8th National Social and Economic Development Plan (8th NSEDP) emphasizes raising agricultural productivity as a development priority since the majority of the Lao workforce is currently engaged in agriculture. One of the biggest challenges that Lao PDR faces is the proper management and protection of the environment and natural resources (land, water resources, forests, minerals, biodiversity). Without adequate and sustainable planning and management of natural resources, the development actions proposed in the 8th NSEDP will cause serious ecological and socio-economic problems, lead to irreversible damage to the environment, and exacerbate poverty. To address this issue, the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment (MoNRE) has developed the 10-year Natural Resources and Environmental Strategy, 2016-2025 based on national directions Vapy Neua Subproject IEE – 23 March 2016 i and policies (National Social and Economic Development Plan, the National Strategies for Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the IX Government Resolution and sectoral strategies) as well as on regional and global orientations and policies (Millennium Development Goals, climate change, and Multilateral Environmental Agreements). 6. Investment projects are categorized according to a schedule in the EIA decree into category 1 – small scale, requiring an IEE or category 2-large scale, requiring an environmental impact assessment (EIA). For irrigation projects, those with a command area of between 100 and 2000 ha are in category 1, and those with a command area greater than 2,000 ha are in category 2. The corresponding category to Lao Category 1 in the ADB’s classification system is B, which, similarly, requires an IEE and EMP. 7. According to the Regulation on Environmental Assessment in the Lao PDR, the IEE of the Project is required to be submitted to the Ministry of Nature Resources and Environment at the provincial level (PoNRE) for approval through the issuance of an environmental certificate prior to the project commencement (no civil work is allowed prior to the approval). 8. The command area at Ban Vapy Neua lies on the northern side of a large bend in the Sedone River, the major river in Saravane Province. The area is generally flat along the broader river margins where the irrigation scheme is located and rises to higher ground to the north. The elevation at Ban Vapy Neua is around 130MASL. As is common to the lowland areas adjoining the Mekong River in Southern Laos, underlying rock is mostly recently-deposited mudstone, underlain by older sandstone bedrock. Soils on the command area are mostly derived from alluvial deposits and are classified as alisols, which are strongly acidic, have good water holding capacity and have clays in the subsoil. They are suitable for shallow rooting crops, such as rice, and intensively irrigated and rain fed agriculture. Yields can be significantly improved through the application of mineral fertilizer. 9. Lao PDR has a tropical monsoon climate which features a dry season (November to February) and a wet season (May to October). The dry season is generally cooler, though temperatures rise significantly in March and April prior to the onset of the rains. The Sedone River is a tributary of the Mekong,