Environmental Impact Assessment of a Flood Control Channel in Sfax City, Tunisia

The objective of this study is to evaluate water and sediment quality in the southern branch of a flood control channel in Sfax city, as well as its neighboring sites. This artificial channel, located 4km away from downtown Sfax, was implemented in 1984 to protect the city against floods. Even though it contributed to reduce the harmful flood effects, this channel also resulted in new environmental problems that may cause a public health threat. Indeed, artificial surfaces pose a greater risk of infection due to bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. A total of 19 water samples (9 from the channel and 10 from groundwater wells) were collected in a dry period and analyzed in the laboratory. Furthermore, 12 sediment samples were taken from the bottom of the channel. Water quality data were used to examine the spatial variability of the different water quality parametrs. The resultant maps revealed an important contamination and illustrated that the degree of contamination differs from one site to another, depending on the distance from the pollution source (industrial, domestic or agricultural activity), the depth of the groundwater table and also the maintenance of the well and its surroundings

Air pollution modelling for environmental impact assessment

The aims of the lectures are: (i) to explain what concentration fluctuations are; (ii) to illustrate their importance in environmental impact assessment; (iii) to discuss some factors relevant to the quantitative description of concentration fluctuations; (iv) to describe a framework for this description. It will be clear from the lectures, and from others later in the Workshop that there is rapidly increasing awareness of the importance of concentration fluctuations and, consequently, much research activity into their properties. Not surprisingly there are still many unsolved problems, and a by-product of the lectures will be to highlight one or two of the most important

Environmental Impact Assessment

A teaching paper.Most developing nations have embarked on a path to rapid economic growth. This has meant soliciting for many development projects which are meant to bring rewards: in increased industrial productivity. The hope is that these projects will increase the incomes of the people and cut down on unemployment. However past experiences have shown that these major development projects created with the aim of producing enormous socio-economic benefits, have also produced adverse environmental impacts. Some of these impacts are irreversible and the damage to the environment has been total. So in order to minimize the unintended negative externalities of these projects on the environment, there has to be some means of identifying the impacts of projects before they are embarked upon so that any adverse effects which the projects may produce on: the environment can be rectified or an alternative method which docs not damage the environment is worked out:. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the technique used to identify the likely impacts of a development project on the environment. Ideally this activity of EIA should be carried out at the early planning stages of projects. When carried out effectively, it will help to identify the probable facets of environmental degradation which will be due to the development activities. This technique provides the decision-makers with an insight into the environmental implications of proposed development projects and their alternatives. It will provide the decision maker with information on the environmental, health, and socio-economic impacts of an intended development project. The implication is that this technique should be an integral part of development plans and is an important decision making tool for all projects if damage to the environment is to be avoided. This paper is meant to acquaint students with EIA as a decision making tool in development planning. It covers all aspects relating to EIA activities from the objectives and scope of EIA; EIA methods; institutional set-up ; and the Zimbabwe situation as far as this activity is concerned. The environment in this paper is taken to mean the set of conditions surrounding an individual or event. These conditions could be physical, biological or socioeconomic in nature. The paper focuses on the technique used to identify impacts of development projects on these various facets of the environment. Those in the planning profession, decision makers and project planners will find this paper useful

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Review of Environmental Impact Assessment in Australia: Theory and Practice by I Thomas and M Elliot

Noise impact on wildlife: An environmental impact assessment

Various biological effects of noise on animals are discussed and a systematic approach for an impact assessment is developed. Further research is suggested to fully quantify noise impact on the species and its ecosystem

The Improved Model of the Method, Rights, and Resources (MRR) for the Evaluation of the EIA System: Revising the Sustainability Indicators

Measuring effectiveness of environmental impact assessment systems is central to the implementation of environmental impact assessment, considering the debate about relevance and usefulness of environmental impact assessment systems. Many models for evaluating environmental impact assessment system’s effectiveness have been developed. Difficulties in quantifying environmental impacts have restricted the effectiveness mostly to procedural effectiveness evaluation, though substantive effectiveness evaluation is better. The method, rights, and resources (MRR) model was initially developed to harness the indicator-based evaluation theory into the evaluation of environmental impact assessment system’s effectiveness. This chapter reviews the method, rights, and resources model and proffers some improvement. The method, rights, and resources model evaluates environmental impact assessment systems using indicators of compliance, participation, and capacity. The indicators incorporate both procedural and substantive approaches; hence, it attempts to present a more indicative measure of environmental impact assessment system’s effectiveness. The guiding idea in this chapter is that monitoring and evaluating environmental impact assessment systems should be embedded in the environmental impact assessment system itself as opposed to being concepts that are externally and subsequently applied on existing environmental impact assessment systems

Water requirements of floodplain rivers and fisheries: existing decision support tools and pathways for development

Fisheries / Rivers / Flood plains / Hydrology / Ecology / Models / Decision support tools / Environmental impact assessment / Methodology / Databases