Panj-Amu River Basin Sector Project (RRP AFG 48042) Initial Environmental Examination Project number: 48042-001 July 2016 DRAFT AFG: Panj-Amu River Basin Project Prepared by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Water, and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) iii CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (As of May 22, 2016) Currency unit – Afghani (AFN) Afs1.00 = $0.01453 $1.00 = Afs68.61 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank AFG – Afghanistan AFN, Afs – Afghani (currency unit) CDC – Community Development Council CEMP – Contractor environmental management plan CWRD – Central and West Asia Department DAIL – Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock DRRD – Department of Rural Rehabilitation and Development DWR – Department of Water Resources EA – (i) Executing agency (ii) environmental assessment EARF – Environmental assessment and review framework EIA – Environmental impact assessment EMP – Environmental management plan EMR – Environmental monitoring report EOP – Environment-on-project ERP – Environmentally responsible procurement EU – European Union FSDC – Feasibility study / design consulting services (with MEW) GoIRA – Government of the Republic of Afghanistan GRM – Grievance redress mechanism IA – (i) Implementing agency (ii) irrigation association ICS – Implementation consulting services IDP – Internally displaced person IEE – Initial environmental examination iv ABBREVIATIONS IWRM – Integrated water resources management MAIL – Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock MEW – Ministry of Energy and Water MOF – Ministry of Finance MRRD – Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development NRM – Natural Resources Management OECD – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OFWM – On-farm water management PIO – Project implementation office PMO – Project management office PPTA – Project preparation technical assistance RBA – River basin agency RBC – River basin council RSP – Representative subproject SBA – Sub-basin agency SEMP – Site environmental management plan WRDIP – Water Resources Development Improvement Project WUA – Water user association WEIGHTS AND MEASURES oC – degrees Celsius ha – hectare, 10,000 m3 jerib – 0.2 ha km – kilometer m – Meter GLOSSARY Command area – Nominal or design area to be irrigated Community – Established under the National Solidarity Program managed Development Council by Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), (CDC) a village-level group for improving and strengthening local governance through cooperation and volunteer participation of community members to promote, develop and maintain v GLOSSARY welfare of the community and strengthen sense of unity, cooperation and solidarity. Such groups plan for and encourage ecologically sustainable economic and social development Cross-regulator – A structure built across a canal to regulate the water level in the canal upstream of itself and the discharge passing downstream of it for one or more of the following purposes: (i) To feed offtaking canals located upstream of the cross regulator. (ii) To help water escape from canals in conjunction with escapes. (iii) To control water surface slopes in conjunction with falls for bringing the canal to regime slope and section. (iv) To control discharge at an outfall of a canal into another canal or lake. Cross-regulators constructed at the head of a canal are called head regulators. Those constructed at the head of a main canal are called canal head regulators (also referred to here as intake structures) and those at the head of a distributary canal (or off-taking canal) such as a secondary or tertiary canal are called distributary cross- regulators. Ecosystem – All living organisms and plants in a region and their relationships with each other and their environment (per Afghanistan’s Water Law and Environment Law) Impacts – Positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended (OECD 2002) Integrated water – Coordinated development and management of water, land resources management and related resources to maximize economic and social (IWRM) welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems (Global Water Partnership) Irrigation association (IA) – Groups of irrigation farmers established with Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) assistance to manage secondary and tertiary canals Irrigation system or – System comprising an area of irrigable land and its irrigation scheme Main or primary canal – Canal that conveys water from main intake / headworks to offtakes Main system – Headworks plus main canal(s) in an irrigation system Mirab bashi – Water master responsible for overall management of a surface water system (Kunduz and Balkh) Mirab – Water master responsible for main and secondary canal sections (Herat) Off-take Also known as a turnout. A structure at the head of a secondary or tertiary canal controlling the discharge of water vi GLOSSARY into the canal. On-farm water – (Improved) water management at the farm level eg by management (OFWM) construction of field canals, water distribution management, field levelling, crop planning to match water supply, etc Outcome – Likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of an intervention’s outputs (OECD 2002) Outputs – Products, capital goods, and services that result from a development intervention; may also include changes relevant to the achievement of an intervention’s outcomes resulting from the intervention (OECD 2002) Risk – Factors that affect or are likely to affect the successful achievement of an intervention’s objective (OECD 2002) River basin approach – Integrated management to manage water resources in a river basin River basin management – Management of water resources within a river basin, often focusing on water sharing River basin – A catchment area with water naturally flowing in a common course (the area from which water drains to a river where it enters the sea, a terminal lake, or joins another river) River sub-basin – A subdivision of a river basin that is itself a river basin Secondary canal – A canal into which water flows from a primary canal via a secondary intake Secondary intake – Opening in a primary canal through which water flows into a secondary canal; in modern systems, the gate or proportional divider used to control flow at this point Wash structure A structure (e.g. a check dam) built to reduce the velocity of the flow of water down a wash (also referred to as a gully or ravine) thereby reducing erosion and flash flooding. Water user association – An association of water users (normally within a system) (WUA) formed to manage irrigation infrastructure at the main canal level, and water distribution along the main canal for different users - irrigation, hydro power, flour mills or other industrial water uses. Watershed / catchment – Management of land and water within a watershed or management catchment, often focusing on management to reduce water pollution or soil erosion NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. vii The Afghanistan calendar year commences on 21 March. The current year is 1395 from 21 March 2016 to 20 March 2017. In 2011, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) changed its fiscal year end to 20 December, three months before the end of the Afghan calendar year. 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 the ADB 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, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. ix CONTENTS PAGE ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... III WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ................................................................................................... IV GLOSSARY.............................................................................................................................. IV CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. IX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ XIII I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 A. Purpose of Report ............................................................................................... 1 B. Identification of Project and Project Proponents .................................................. 1 C. Nature, Size, Location, and Importance of Project .............................................. 1 D. IEE Boundaries ................................................................................................... 2 E. Scope of IEE ....................................................................................................... 2 F. Level of Detail and Comprehensiveness ............................................................. 3 G. Structure of Report .............................................................................................