Comparison of the basic procedures for MWP design, evaluation : operation, and financing with World Bank procedures : two case studies

This is an environmental assessment of the Wanjiazhai Water Transfer Project (WWTP), which furnishes additional water for industrial and municipal use in Taiyuan, Pingshuo, and Datong in Shanxi Province. The present Phase I is limited to supplying water to the Taiyuan Service Area. Negative impacts and their mitigations follow: 1) Some potential limited flood hazards caused by pipe, aqueduct, or culvert failures due to earthquakes, poor operations, and poor construction quality will be adequately monitored and controlled. 2) The resettlement plan for those affected by land acquisition includes monetary compensation for lost property, lost income, and moving costs; job training; and new housing. 3) Adequate and safe water supply and sanitation facilities for construction workers, and initial and periodic worker examinations will protect against typhoid and dysentery. Worker housing will be periodically sprayed with insecticides. Special control measures will be implemented if the incidence of insect vector diseases in the overall WWTP region increases significantly. Rat densities in construction zones will be reduced, if needed. 4) In the operational phase, introducing different species from Wanjiazhai will modify the eco-balance in the river and in the Fen-1 Reservoir, but overall, the aquatic ecology and the impact on the region's fishing will be negligible. 5) The tunnel design will take into account possible earthquake hazard. 6) Exporting water for WWTP will decrease total water availability in the Lower Yellow River Basin, but the approved overall government plan allocation provides for this. 7) To offset higher volumes of wastewater, recycling and treatment will be regulated by an implementing agency. 8) Stabilization ponds will be built until they are replaced by sufficient collection systems and treatment plants later. 9) Imported water will be treated with the standard chlorinating process to be made potable. Protective measures, like pricing and the implementation of a permit system, will be used to alleviate potential impacts on surface water and groundwater quality.