Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Gibe III

Gibe III – Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 300 ENV R CS 002 C - A9003099
altitudes to the low altitudes during the dry season and from the low altitudes to the high altitudes in the wet
seasons when there is pastor available in the highlands and water in the dry rivers.
The agro-pastoralists mostly move in Omo Sheleko, Kacha Bira, Boloso Sore and Kindo Koyisha weredas in
search of grazing resources for their livestock. They usually construct temporary residential houses for their
short stay (for about three months).
The loss of grazing land to flooding in these areas used by the agro-pastoralists communities will not bring
about marked differences in the carrying capacity at present and also no gradual deterioration and
undesirable effects could be observed in the future. This loss will not compromise the traditional lifestyle of
these community and will not also push them into a more distant and marginal land. However, these
communities will benefit from the recommended buffer area (integrated with feed resources) development
plan.
Bridge Across the Gibe River to Serve the Agro-pastoralists Community
Along the Gibe, Gojeb and Omo River, established river crossings used by the agro-pastoral communities
will be submerged by the long stretch of the Gibe III reservoir. To compensate for the loss of traditional
crossing points it is recommended to construct a bridge across their major crossing point across the Gibe
River.
EEPCO is responsible to reinstate the cattle crossing at least at one location between Buryo Lenge and Ambe
Lenge PAs of the Soro Wereda by financing the construction of a bridge across the Gibe River. The cost of
construction is estimated at Birr 15 Million and this includes the cost of access road to the bridge site.
7.4.6 Public Health
Damming and regulating rivers for hydroelectric project schemes can result in the tropics and sub-tropics in
higher frequencies of water related diseases within the human population. The Project will likely increase the
number of breeding sites for vectors through the creation of a reservoir. Current diseases and their vectors
that have been identified as important for the project area include: malaria, schistosomiasis, etc.
The potential public health impacts from various disease vectors species are, at this point not considered to
be a major factor affecting the implementation of the project. However, for the control of these vector borne
diseases and other communicable diseases it is recommended to adopt the following mitigation measures:
• Environmental management by eliminating sources and habitat management against eggs, larvae and
pupae, chemical methods (i.e. insecticides) and biological methods (i.e. using insect growth regulator
such as fish or bacteria toxic to mosquito larvae);
• Snails grow well on plants and cannot thrive without them and therefore, removing the aquatic
vegetation is a simpler way to control snails;
• After the implementation of the project, it is recommended to strengthen the existing health
institutions in each affected weredas and start a surveillance program for mosquito breeding areas,
the occurrence of schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis and trypanosomiasis vector suitable habitats.
Most people in the project area are not aware of what causes vector borne diseases like malaria and
shistosomiasis or how they get it. Through the regional and wereda health programme, the Project will
support local health institutions in continuing the existing education of the population in prevention/control
of malaria and other vector borne diseases. This education programme will also include disseminating
CESI SpA - Mid-Day International Consulting Engineers Page 218