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Arsenic Environmental Disaster

Land Use & Water Management Study, Red River Basin, Viet Nam

As part of an Asian Development Bank technical assistance project to the Government of Viet Nam, wei prepared of a study of land use and water management issues in the Red River Basin.  This study reviews the current situation in the basin and its sub-basins based on maps and statistics of land use, demography, existing water resources infrastructure, and other variables; and discusses key future land use and water management issues, including future urban and rural water demand, groundwater development, the role of water in poverty alleviation, etc.

Beneficiary Participation

West Bengal-India & Bangladesh Arsenic Crisis Information Centre

  • Widespread arsenic contamination of groundwater used for drinking and a high incidence of chronic arsenic poisoning symptoms are being observed in many parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Though the initial observations of this problem date to the 1980s, the full extent of the crisis is only now becoming clear - in part due to the long exposure times during which chronic arsenic poisoning symptoms develop.  As a public service, wei developed a website, the West Bengal & Bangladesh Arsenic Crisis Information Centre, in support of efforts to deal with the crisis. The site is co-sponsored by Dhaka Community Hospital Trust.  See also the Nickson et al. Nature paper Arsenic poisoning of Bangladesh groundwater.

  Beneficiary Participation

Beneficiary Participation and Project Management, Bangladesh

    BPPM is a technical assistance project with the Local Government Engineering Department, funded by Asian Development Bank and the Government of the Netherlands.  The TA is intended to strengthen LGED's engineering and environmental capabilities, in the context of the implementation of 400 small-scale water resources subprojects with ADB loan funds. Major focus areas are improved beneficiary participation, enhanced management systems, and expanded staff training.

    wei is providing an international environment advisor who is responsible to advise and assist LGED project staff in their ongoing environmental activities, and in identifying, designing, and implementing improvements to environmental planning, assessment, and management systems and training. 

Initial Environmental Examination - Aquaculture IFAD

    Initial Environmental Examination - Aquaculture Development Project Appraisal, Bangladesh

    IEE during project planning is a key tool to ensure that environmental concerns are identified and addressed proactively. This IEE looked at the potential impacts of the AqDP as formulated prior to the International Fund for Agricultural Development appraisal mission. Proposed project activities assessed included infrastructure and other interventions for large-scale aquaculture development at baors (ox bow lakes) in western Bangladesh.

    An international wei specialist and a national consultant working together prepared the IEE, based on a literature review and field visits using rapid rural appraisal techniques. 

Capacity Building in the Water Resources Sector - Vietnam

    Capacity Building in the Water Resources Sector, Vietnam

    This Asian Development Bank funded technical assistance strengthened the engineering and environmental capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Major focus areas of the TA were the planning and design process, irrigation system operation improvement, gender aspects of water resources development, environmental monitoring, and the development of short courses in engineering topics and environmental monitoring.

    wei provided an international environment specialist who was responsible to design an environmental monitoring programme; recommend lab equipment and training to be procured with ADB loan funds; review drinking water quality standards and pesticide regulatory arrangements; and design training services leading to the development of an environmental monitoring short course. The specialist also assisted a Fact Finding Mission to plan the Red River Water Planning and Management TA. Some of the findings of this work are documented in Water quality management in Vietnam, a paper by the international and the national environment specialist published in Reaching the Unreached - Challenges for the 21st Century, 22nd Water Engineering & Development Centre (WEDC) Conference, New Delhi India (1996). 

Northeast Regional Water Management Project, Bangladesh, Flood Action Plan 6 (FAP 6)

    Northeast Regional Water Management Project, Bangladesh Flood Action Plan 6

    NERP is a water resources planning exercise covering the Sylhet/Mymensingh area of northeastern Bangladesh, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. It is one of 26 items of the World Bank-coordinated Flood Action Plan (FAP).  The NE Regional Plan consists of a strategy for development of regional water management systems through 2015, and includes a portfolio of 45 structural and non-structural projects for public and private implementation. The Regional Plan was developed using a strategic planning process grounded in extensive specialist studies of hydrology, geohydrology, river sedimentation and morphology, existing water resources development, agriculture, fisheries, water transport, wetland and upland biological systems, human resource development, and institutions.  Feasibility studies and pilot implementations are being undertaken for several of the projects.

    wei provided an international environment specialist who was responsible for:

  • Management of the projects's Environment Team
  • Design and management of a one-year field program to identify and characterize internationally and nationally valuable wetlands in the region (result: nine sites meriting Ramsar status)
  • Design and management of a three-month field village case studies program to gain an understanding of local perspectives on wetland resource utilization and management
  • Preparation of the Wetland Resource Specialist Study
  • Development of a quantitative model of impacts of flood control on wetland resources
  • Design and prepare a pre-feasibility study of an environmental management, research, and education project to address the needs of the region. Study preparation included a programme of formal and informal stakeholders consultations with central and local Government agencies, non-government organizations, and local communities.
  • Environmental impact assessment of existing and proposed water resources projects
  • Preparation of an Initial Environmental Evaluation (IEE) of the Regional Water Management Plan - this looked at impacts of the Plan and of its portfolio of proposed structural and non-structural initiatives for the region
Water Environment International / WEI

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