Environmental impact assessment of irrigation and drainage projects
The Guide is a succinct, reference text aimed at providing non-specialists, in developing countries, with sufficient understanding of EIA techniques to allow them to set the terms of reference for such assessments or to interpret and evaluate EIA statements. The guide presents information from other, existing texts and draws lessons from selected country studies. Rather than being a "how to" manual - which is provided by the ICID Environmental checklist - the guide raises awareness and technical understanding of this subject area.
Background
Many multi-and bilateral agencies now stipulate, as a condition for lending, technical assistance and development support, that environmental impact assessments (EIA) of proposed developments be carried out. However, the systematic approaches and methods that are used to assess the extent and scale of the environmental impact of an irrigation or drainage project are not always familiar to senior irrigation managers and planners. There is therefore a need for an effective but concise guide that explains these methods in sufficient detail to allow planners and decision-makers to commission studies and interpret their findings.

The Guidelines
The guide aims to be of general application to irrigation professionals throughout the developing world. It meets three objectives

  • It describes the methodology and output of an EIA
  • It provides inter-disciplinary advice related to irrigation and drainage to those engaged in preparing EIAs
  • It supports institutional capacity building for carrying out an EIA

What it covers
The guide provides a brief reference text, which will be of most benefit to non-specialists in developing countries who may be facing the need to carry out an environmental assessment for the first time. Technical and engineering content is kept to a minimum throughout the report.


 

The guidelines are divided into six parts:

  • An introduction to EIA
  • The social, institutional and legal issues concerned with effective use of EIA.
  • The EIA process, including:
    Screening, scoping, prediction and mitigation, management and monitoring, auditing, public participation and managing uncertainty
  • Possible major environmental impacts of irrigation and drainage projects
  • Guidance on how to prepare terms of reference
  • A guide to other publications and recommended texts.

    Contributors
    HR Wallingford Ltd, UK.

    Intended users
    The guidelines are aimed at staff in developing countries from various disciplines and backgrounds (government officials, consultants, planners) who need to understand and incorporate environmental considerations into different steps of the project cycle. They will also provide a very useful text for those involved in training in this field.

    Dougherty, TC and Hall, AW, 1995.
    Environmental impact assessment of irrigation and drainage projects. FAO Irrigation and drainage paper no 53. FAO, Rome. ISBN 92-5-103731-0. 53

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    • Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/V8350E/V8350E00.htm
    For a hard copy contact:
    FAO, Distribution and sales section, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
    For a CD-ROM contact:
    International Development Group, HR Wallingford Ltd, Howbery Park, Oxon, OX10 8BA, UK
    Tel: +44 (0) 1491 835381, Fax: +44 (0) 1491 826352, E-mail: w5outputs@hrwallingford.co.uk