Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Gibe III

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Gibe III – Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 300 ENV R CS 002 C - A9003099 The peak controlled floods releases shall be adjusted during the first years of operations to be adequate in flow and timing to achieve the current natural penetration in the soils and for soil moisture to carry the crops through to maturity while maximising killing of weeds germinated by the water, thereby allowing continuation of current practices. Construction of the Gibe-3 dam will not have a direct effect on rainfed cropping, which is mainly confined to the higher lands. It might possibly lead to an increase in rainfed cropping, in an effort to compensate for loss of recession crop area, which in turn might result in overuse of the limited amount of arable land available and more susceptibility to soil erosion. Controlled flooding after dam construction, to allow the continuation of flood recession cropping will obviate this potential impact. The ethnic groups, Dasenech, Karo, Hamer, Mursi, Murle, Mugugi and Nyangatom, all rely on flood recession and river delta crops as well as livestock for their subsistence. The potential loss of flood recession crop area, as well as grazing, would reduce their food supply and could possibly lead to conflicts over grazing areas. There will be no adverse impact on irrigated agriculture from reduced flooding, only benefits because of the regulated flow in the river, which will ensure adequate water levels at all times of the year. The planned release from the reservoir intended to artificially induce flooding of both the river banks and floodplains, as well as the provisions for a minimum environmental flow, will mitigate and full compensate all adverse effects. Nevertheless modern agricultural techniques practices including infrastructure (roads, markets, finance, irrigation, extension, etc.) will have to be promoted so as to ensure food security by the vertical growth in agricultural (crop, livestock and fishery) productivity and improve the income level of the community. Therefore, in addition to seasonally releasing more water to create flooding on the land bordering the Omo River the following benefit enhancement measures are also recommended: • There is large area of unutilized land along the floodplain of the Omo which could be used for recession cultivation and/or small scale irrigated crop production if accessibility and the pubic infrastructure are improved. Therefore, provide assistance to expand cropped area by harnessing under-utilized (or unutilized) land resources by opening up poorly accessible areas along the Omo floodplain through the construction of community feeder roads. • Experience of irrigation schemes in the lower Omo suggests that small scale river diversion and small scale irrigation have positive effects and is providing a vital contribution to food security and self-sufficiency. Therefore, provide assistance to expand irrigated crop production and water harvesting practices; • Assist the farmers by introducing improved agricultural practices including supplying locally adopted and high yielding varieties; and • Creating a suitable settlement environment through development of infrastructure for Dasenech, Karo, Hamer, Mursi, Murle, Mugugi and Nayangtom communities; and • Since not only economic opportunities (other than traditional and subsistence farming), but also technical and business skills among affected populations are very low, therefore project affected persons should be supported by the project through training, facilitation and capacity building so that they can set up profitable ventures. CESI SpA - Mid-Day International Consulting Engineers Page 231
Gibe III – Environmental and Social Impact Assessment 300 ENV R CS 002 C - A9003099 Photo 7.6: Existing Farmer Demonstration Site at Dasenech Wereda The supply of water will never be a constraint on the development of irrigation in the lower Omo: even the unregulated flows of the Omo River will irrigate more land than is likely to be developed. Therefore, construction and operation as the Gibe III scheme will have no effect on downstream irrigation schemes. 7.5.7 Grazing resources The lower Omo floodplain has a potential advantage on the livestock feed resources, for example Hammer- Dasenech Rangeland system which is predominantly on the alluvial sediments of the Omo River is valuable feed sources. Most of the grazing resources both the grass and shrubs are a good source of livestock feed especially in the period of drought. Therefore, to satisfy the demand for recession grazing, seasonally more water will be released and flooding would be created on the land bordering the Omo River. To avoid the loss of floodplain grazing feed resources and its associated impacts on livestock resources, and to enhance the beneficial impacts from seasonally releasing flood water, development packages in the following major livestock improvement areas are recommended: • To introduce high yielding and locally adoptable forage and feed sources to improve the quantity and quality of grazing resources. This would help to overcome feed shortages during the height of the dry season; • To improve the feed resources by integrating improved forages and proper range management practices in the area. With the provision of improved forages and improvement of the grazing lands training will be provided for both the farmers and the technical staff in the respective Weredas. The unit cost for the improvement of the grazing land is estimated at 200 Birr/ha. This includes cost of purchase, raising and management of annual and perennial improved forages and indigenous fodder species. This is a one time cost that will be incurred during the first year of the implementation phase. No other cost will be required thereafter, since multiplication can be done using both cuttings and collection of seeds. The type of inputs required after the introduction of the improved forages CESI SpA - Mid-Day International Consulting Engineers Page 232
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Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Gibe III

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