49453-001: south tarawa water supply project...melad ministry of environment, lands and agricultural...

Environmental Impact Assessment Report

February 2018

KIR: South Tarawa Water Supply Project

Prepared by Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy for the Asian Development Bank.

This environmental impact assessment report is a document of the borrower. The views

expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management,

or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making

any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the

Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status

of any territory or area.

February 2018

Kiribati: South Tarawa Water Supply

Project

Environmental Impact Assessment

Report*

* This environmental impact assessment (EIA) report complies with the country safeguard

system requirements of Kiribati with additional elements as required to also comply with the

safeguard requirements of the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. This report does not

constitute an EIA for category A projects as per the ADB Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 or

World Bank OP 4.01. For this project the EIA is an assessment commensurate with the risks and

impacts of a category B project.

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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ABBREVIATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. POLICY, LEGAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 3

2.1 Kiribati Constitution and Environment Act 3

2.2 Other Relevant Legislation 3

2.3 Administrative framework for safeguards implementation 4

2.4 Develop e t Pa t e s’ Safegua d Re ui e e ts 5

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 8

3.1 Need for the Project 8

3.2 Project Components 11

3.3 Proposed Implementation Schedule and Workforce Component 21

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 26

4.1 Physical Environment 26

4.2 Biological Environment 29

4.3 Socio-Economic Environment 36

5. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 40

5.1 Design and Pre-construction phase 40

5.2 Construction Phase 44

5.3 Operation Impacts 52

5.4 Positive Impact on Health 58

5.5 Cumulative Effects 58

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6. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 59

6.1 Alternative to the SWRO 59

6.2 Alternative Location of Desalination Plant and Brine Disposal 59

6.3 Alternative to Desalination Design 61

6.4 Alternative to Feed-water Sources 61

6.5 Alternative to Brine Delivery Pipeline 62

6.6 Location Alternatives for PV Solar System 63

6.7 The No Project Alternative 63

7. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND GRIEVANCE REDRESS 64

7.1 Public Consultations 64

7.2 Summary of Issues Raised 64

7.3 Means of Addressing Issues Raised 66

7.4 Consultation and Disclosure during Implementation 66

7.5 Grievance Redress Mechanism 67

8. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 69

8.1 ESMP - Mitigation Measures 69

8.2 Monitoring and Reporting 69

8.3 Capacity of Proponent and Operator - Monitoring 82

9. CONCLUSION 83

APPENDICES 84

Appendix 1: MELAD response to Environmental License Application 85

Appendix 2: Land Options for Desalination Plant 90

Appendix 3: Minutes of Community Consultations 110

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Abbreviations

ADB Asian Development Bank

CESMP construction environmental and social management plan

CSS country safeguards system

ECD Environment and Conservation Division (within MELAD)

EIA environmental impact assessment report (as per the CSS)

EHSG Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines (of the World Bank Group)

ESMP environmental and social management plan

ENSO El Nino Southern Oscillation

GCF Green Climate Fund

GOK Government of Kiribati

HDD horizontal direct drilling

KAPII Kiribati Adaptation Project Phase II

KAPIII Kiribati Adaptation Project Phase III

MELAD Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development

MFED Ministry of Economic and Finance Development

MHMS Ministry of Health and Medical Services

MISE Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy

NIWA New Zealand Institute of Water and Atmosphere

PEO Principal Environment Officer (of ECD)

PMU Project Management Unit

PPTA Project Preparatory Technical Assistance

PUB Public Utilities Board

PV Photovoltaic

PVC Polyvinyl chloride

RO Reverse Osmosis

STSISP South Tarawa Sanitation Improvement Sector Project

SWRO Salt Water Reverse Osmosis

USEPA United State Environmental Protection Agency

UXO Unexploded Ordnance

WASH Water, Sanitation, and Health

WHO World Health Organisation

WWII World War Two

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Units and Measurements

% percentage

C° Degrees Celsius

ft Feet

kg Kilograms

kg/day Kilograms per day

kL Kilolitres

kL/day Kilolitres per day

L/c/day Litres per capita per day

LSI Langelier saturation index

m/h Metres per hour

m2 Square metres

m3 Cubic metres

m3/day Cubic metres per day

mg/L Milligrams per Litre

mL/hr Millilitres per hour

mm millimetres

MPN Most probable number

ND nominal diameter

NTU Nephelometric Turbidity Unit

pH potential of hydrogen (acidity/alkalinity)

ppt Part per thousandth

SDI silt density index

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

The proposed South Tarawa Water Supply Project (the project) is committed to supplementing

existing water shortages and infrastructure improvements, by offering an opportunity for all

residents on South Tarawa access to safe water. The physical work components of the project

involve the installation of a salt water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facility that will

supplement existing water shortages, installation of a solar photo-voltaic (PV) system that will

provide extra energy to the existing power grid to compensate for the energy consumed by the

desalination plant and the rehabilitation and renewal of the water supply network and

associated infrastructure on South Tarawa. The proposed desalination facility will be designed

to accommodate the seawater reverse osmosis system to produce up to 6000 m3/day,

sufficient to meet the estimated water demand in 2031. The project will install four x

1000 m3/day capacity systems to meet projected demand in 2020.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) are supporting the Government of

Kiribati (GOK) by providing technical assistance through the Ministry of Infrastructure and

Sustainable Energy (MISE), and Public Utilities Board (PUB) to prepare in implementing the

project. Part of this assistance is to address environmental and social safeguard issues. In

addition, both ADB (through the Asian Development Fund) and the World Bank have each

committed US$15.0 million. Furthermore, the pending submission for additional financing from

the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is hoping to provide access to a further US$20 million. This will

further strengthen the GOK s positio to e a le to i ple e t this i po ta t p oje t.

The environmental impact assessment report (EIA) has been prepared following the Kiribati

environmental safeguard procedure, with additional elements to meet the requirements of the

development partners environment and social safeguards. Potential project impacts at pre-

construction, construction and post construction phases are predicted and the quality of the

impacts are assessed. Concomitant potential risks of the implementation are evaluated, and

mitigation measures proposed.

Potential impacts and mitigation measures

The project includes installation of a desalination plant and upgrading and/or replacement of

existing water distribution infrastructure – the environmental impacts will be site-specific and

largely limited to the construction period. The environmental and social management plan

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(ESMP) prepared as part of this EIA identifies measures to manage and mitigate the impacts.

Most important in the pre-construction phase is to identify the location of the main

infrastructure so it does not affect any heritage and culturally important sites and is not

affected by seawater flooding and inundation due to climate change. Sustainability results from

proper design and contractors providing training on the operation and maintenance (preventive

and corrective) of the systems and producing an operation manual and maintenance plan. The

contractor is also obliged to produce a construction environmental and social management

plan (CESMP) that is based on the EIA report and ESMP.

During the construction period, environmentally responsible construction practices and

management of all wastes will be mandatory. Likewise, social issues will be addressed

appropriately, and it is obligatory that consultation is made with people concerned, specifically

where private land access/usage and livelihood are involved.

Throughout the operation phase the integrity of the Betio outfall should be monitored to

ensure maximum dilution of wastewater effluent. It is recommended that monitoring of salinity

level at and adjacent areas to the outfall is carried out monthly. Regular testing on the quality

of water produced by the RO desalination and pumped from the water reservoirs is also

recommended. Maintenance of the installed and upgraded infrastructure should be ongoing.

Consultation and Disclosure

Issues raised at meetings related to the existing situation caused by the poor state of the water

supply system, to impacts of construction, and some further concerns. The lack of a reticulated

water supply system in some areas, and increased salinity of the well-water in Bonriki, were the

main concerns with the existing water supply system. Concerns with construction impacts

were:

(i) effects of excavation on trees/permanent structures, and the newly completed

tar-sealed road;

(ii) effect of drilling boreholes on ground stability; and

(iii) labor recruitment process.

Further concerns raised were:

(i) effects of brine disposal on the marine ecosystem;

(ii) effect of pumping feed water from boreholes on the freshwater lens;

(iii) concern for cost of water produced by the desalination plant; and

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(iv) community participation in maintenance, and the poor repair and hence

sustainability of infrastructure.

Conclusion

The EIA has found that no significant environmental impacts are likely to occur from this

development, particularly with the mitigation and monitoring strategies in place to ensure that

the environment is adequately protected, the SWRO desalination plant, solar PV system, and

water supply infrastructures are adequately managed, and the safety of workers as well as the

public are addressed.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Kiribati, an island republic in the central Pacific, comprises three island groups (Gilbert, Phoenix

and Line) with 33 coral atolls and islands stretching along the equator (Figure 1-1). South

Tarawa the ou t s apital comprises a series of isolates, oriented east-west and connected

by causeways. It adjoins North Tarawa, which similarly, comprises a series of islets, oriented

approximately north-east to form Tarawa atoll (Gilbert Islands group). It lies at a latitude of

120o20o north and 1720 – 1730 east, approximately 150km north of the equator.

This environmental impact assessment report (EIA)1 has been prepared for the South Tarawa

Water Supply Project comprising physical works including (i) the installation of a seawater

reverse osmosis desalination plant (SWRO) at Betio, (ii) the rehabilitation of the existing water

supply infrastructure on South Tarawa, and (iii) the installation of the solar photo-voltaic (PV)

system at Bonriki water reservation area to offset the energy consumed by the SWRO. The

project also includes non-physical works to improve the management of the water supply

network and increase health and hygiene awareness of the community through a Water,

Sanitation and Health (WASH) program. The Project aims to provide additional supply of water

to augment the water shortage problem on South Tarawa, an essential part of the solution to

the growing and intense problem of public health related to water and sanitation.

This EIA examines the potential impacts of proposed project activities and identifies mitigation

measures to avoid adverse impacts. It is prepared to assist the Ministry of Infrastructure and

Sustainable Energy (MISE) in preparing for the South Tarawa Water Supply Project. The Project

will be handed-over and managed by the Public Utilities Board (PUB), once the infrastructure is

fully installed and rehabilitation works are completed. The executing agency for the project is

the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MFED) and the implementing agency is

the MISE. The EIA has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the development

partners (Asian Development Bank [ADB] and World Bank ([WB]), as found in Appendix 1 and

with the country safeguards system (CSS) as per Environment Act 1999, Environment Act,

Amended, 2007, and other requirements of the Republic of Kiribati.

1 This EIA report has been prepared to conform to the requirements of the Kiribati country safeguard system

with additional elements as required to also comply with ADB and WB safeguards. This EIA report is not an EIA

within the meaning of the ADB Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 or WB OP 4.01.


Figure 1-1 Location Map of Kiribati and South Tarawa


2. LEGAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK

2.1 Kiribati Constitution and Environment Act

The constitution of the Republic of Kiribati vests the natural resources of Kiribati in the

people and Government, who through various ministries and agencies provide the

protection to public health, the health of animals and plants and the conservation of

the environment. The country safeguard system (CSS) requires compliance with the

environmental assessment regulations for all projects is embodied in the Environment Act 1999

(No. 9 of 1999), which states it is an A t to P o ide fo the P ote tio I p o e e t a d Conservation of the Environment of the Republic of Kiribati… . The E i o e t A t as amended in 2007 to better reflect the needs of better appraising, monitoring and to provide

the means for the inclusion of the Environmental (General) Regulations of 2009 (which repeals

previous regulations to the Act). Activities are scheduled' according to their environmental

significance, activities considered to create significant environmental impact require application

for environmental license and some activities further require an EIA report. The decision to

grant the license and the provision of conditions are set out in Section 38 of the Environment

Act 2007, are made according to the principles of sustainable development and with any

international obligations or agreements to which Kiribati is bound, and any other prescribed

requirements (the process is further described in Section 2.3).

Following review of the application submission, an EIA report is required by the Principal

Environment Officer (PEO) of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development

(MELAD) for the project (Appendix 1). The EIA requested is similar in content to the previous

CSS requirement of a Basic EIA which o espo ds to the ADB s lassifi atio of a category B

project where the impacts of a project are site-specific, few (if any) are irreversible and

mitigation measures can be designed more readily. 2

2.2 Other Relevant Legislation

Other legislation that is relevant to this Project include: (i) the Public Utilities Ordinance of

1977, which vests responsibility for the protection and security of water resources in the

Public Utilities Board, and includes regulations for the protection of water reserves, (ii) the

Public Health Ordinance of 1926, (iii) Public Health Regulations of 1926, both of which provide

for public health measures including sanitation, solid waste collection and drainage, (iv) the

2 Government of Kiribati & ADB. 2012. South Tarawa Water Supply Options Assessment Desalination Feasibility

Study. STSISP TA-7359(KIR). Volume 1: South Tarawa Desalination Plants Environment Assessment Appendix E

of South Tarawa Desalination Plants Environment Assessment in Fraser Thomas Partners.


Foreshore and Land Reclamation Ordinance of 1969, which regulates extraction of material

such as sand, gravel, reef mud and rock, (v) Land Planning Ordinance 1972 (amended 1973,

1974, 1977, 1979, 1980 (2), 2000), the objective of which is to apply controls over land use and

developments within designated areas; (vi) the Local Government Act, 1984 which empowers

local government bodies to issue bylaws relating to environmental protection, and (vii) Penal

codes (Cap 76 1977) having some offences in the Code that are relevant to environmental

protection and enforcement.

Additionally, the following conventions, protocols and regional agreements are relevant and to

Kiribati: (i) Convention on Biological Diversity, (ii) Cartagena Protocol, (iii) World Heritage

Convention, (iv) Framework Convention on Climate Change, (v) Regional Seas Convention, (vi)

Convention to Combat Desertification, (vii) The Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on

Ozone Depleting Substances, (viii) Basel Convention and Waigani Convention to control the

trans-boundary movements and disposal of hazardous wastes, (ix) CITES (International trade in

endangered species), (x) Stockholm Convention International, (xi) Convention for the Protection

of World Cultural and National Heritage.

2.3 Administrative Framework for Safeguards Implementation

Requirements of the CSS are set out in the Environment Act of 2007 and Environment (General)

Regulations, 2009. The act assigns primary responsibility for undertaking environmental

assessment of projects to the project developer. The Ministry of Environment, Lands and

Agricultural Development (MELAD), under the direction of the Principal Environment Officer

(PEO), is responsible for review and approval of environmental assessment reports, prescription

of requirements for publication and disclosure environmental assessment reports, issuance of

environment licenses, and prescription of any conditions to the licenses.

Environment licenses are required from the MELAD, for all activities that are deemed

environmentally significant. These include activities to be undertaken by the Project, including

installment and operation of a desalination systems and solar PV system, and rehabilitation of

the existing water supply system that may require land clearance and excavating activities. The

Act requires the applicant for the environment license (in this case the MISE) submit an

application with an application fee to the PEO.

On consideration of the application, the PEO determines whether to issue an environment

license or require an EIA, or refuse the application. Appendix 1 provides the PEO decision and

what is required in the EIA report for this project.

If an EIA report is required, the applicant undertakes the assessment according to the required

format and is required to hold public consultations. This is compatible with the development


partners requirements, which requires that consultation is meaningful, commences early in the

project preparation cycle, provides timely disclosure of relevant and adequate information that

is understandable and readily accessible to affected people, is inclusive of the views of women,

men, and vulnerable groups, and is carried out in a non-coercive manner.

Once the EIA report is received by MELAD, the PEO will determine the appropriate form of its

publication and disclosure to interested parties, and the deadline for receipt of comments.

Comments received must be shown to the applicant and taken into consideration. Concurrently

the report is also being review by the Environment and Conservation Division (ECD), where

regional and international expert views may be sorted. In accordance with ADB policy, revisions

should be made in response to comments.

On receipt of comments, the PEO decides whether to grant a license and if a license is to be

granted, whether it will include any conditions. Conditions may include duration, location,

prescribed methods, emission limits, monitoring and reporting requirements, lodgment of

bonds and payment of fees, and preparation of plans and specific mitigations.

The ECD is responsible to monitor the a ti it s progress to ensure compliance with the license

conditions.

2.4 Develop e t Pa t e s’ Safeguard Requirements

The project is being co-financed by the ADB and WB and therefore in addition to the CSS the

safeguard requirements of the ADB and WB will also be complied with.

Asian Development Bank. The o je ti es of ADB s safegua ds a e to: i avoid adverse impacts

of projects on the environment and affected people, where possible; (ii) minimize, mitigate,

and/or compensate for adverse project impacts on the environment and affected people when

avoidance is not possible; and (iii) help borrowers/clients to strengthen their safeguard systems

and develop the capacity to manage environmental and social risks. Through its Safeguard

Policy Statement 2009 (SPS) ADB establishes policy objectives, scope and triggers, and

principles for three key safeguard areas of environment, involuntary resettlement, and

Indigenous People. The SPS sets out the process to be applied from screening, through due

diligence and assessment to monitoring and reporting.

The SPS requires project screening and categorization at the earliest stage of project

preparation. Screening and categorization is undertaken to (i) reflect the significance of

potential impacts or risks that a project might present; (ii) identify the level of assessment and

institutional resources required for the safeguard measures; and (iii) determine disclosure


requirements. ADB uses a lassifi atio s ste to efle t the sig ifi a e of a p oje t s pote tial e i o e tal i pa ts. A p oje t s atego is dete i ed y the category of its most

environmentally sensitive component. Each proposed project is scrutinized as to its type,

location, scale, and sensitivity and the magnitude of its potential environmental impacts.

Projects are assigned to one of four categories.3 The category determines the level of

assessment required.

ADB's safeguard due diligence emphasizes planning, environmental and social impact

assessments and safeguard documentation. Through such due diligence and review, ADB will

confirm (i) that all key potential social and environmental impacts and risks of a project are

identified; (ii) that effective measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate, or compensate for the

adverse impacts are incorporated into the safeguard plans and project design; (iii) that the

o o e / lie t u de sta ds ADB s safeguard policy principles and requirements and has the

necessary commitment and capacity to manage the risks adequately; (iv) that, as required, the

role of third parties is appropriately defined in the safeguard plans; and (v) that consultations

with affected people are conducted in accordance with ADB's requirements.

World Bank. The WB has operational policies relating to environmental and social safeguards.

OP 4.01 states that the WB requires environmental assessment of projects proposed for WB

financing to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable. Like ADB SPS,

OP4.01 sets out the process to be applied and commences with environmental screening which

is undertaken to determine the appropriate extent and type of environmental assessment. WB

uses the same classification system for projects as the ADB with Category A projects having the

greatest potential for significant environmental impacts (i.e. that are sensitive, diverse or

unprecedented) and an environmental assessment report must be prepared by the borrower.

Category B projects having potential impacts that are minor (i.e. site-specific with few, if any,

irreversible impacts) and mitigation can be provided readily. The scope of environmental

assessment for Category B projects is less than Category A (but the level of detail will vary from

project to project based on what is potentially at risk). Category C projects are unlikely to have

any adverse environmental impact and no further environmental assessment is required.

3 Category A if it is likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts that are irreversible, diverse, or

unprecedented, and impacts may affect an area larger than the sites or facilities subject to physical works.

Category B if its potential adverse environmental impacts are less adverse than those of Category A projects,

impacts are site-specific, few if any of them are irreversible, and in most cases mitigation measures can be

designed readily. A project is Category C if it is likely to have minimal or no adverse environmental impacts.


WB appraises and, if necessary, includes components to strengthen the capabilities of the

implementing agency to a) screen sub-projects, b) obtain the necessary expertise to carry out

EIA, c) review all findings and results of EIA for individual sub-projects, d) ensure

implementation of mitigation measures and e) monitor environmental conditions during

project implementation.

Common safeguards approach. For this project, ADB and WB have developed a common

approach to safeguards and social dimensions to e applied. It is ased o Ki i ati s C““ supplemented by additional elements, as required, to also o pl ith “P“ a d WB s operational policies. The approach provides direction on the preparation of documents,

including environmental assessments, poverty and social assessment, land acquisition and

resettlement plans.

Government and the development partners have separate monitoring responsibilities. The

extent of monitoring activities, including their scope and periodicity, will be commensurate

with the p oje t s isks a d i pa ts. Go e e ts, th ough the i ple e ti g age , a e required to implement safeguard measures and relevant safeguard plans, as provided in the

legal agreements, and to submit periodic monitoring reports on their implementation

performance. Monitoring and supervising of social and environmental safeguards is integrated

into the project performance management system. ADB and WB will monitor projects on an

ongoing basis until a project completion report is issued.

Public consultation. For all projects the borrower consults affected groups and local non-

go e e tal o ga isatio s NGOs du i g the EIA p o ess a out the p oje t s e i o e tal aspects and takes into account their views. Consultation is initiated as early as possible.

Disclosure. To facilitate meaningful consultation, the borrower provides relevant materials in a

timely manner and in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to groups

being consulted.


3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

3.1 Need for the Project

Water management in Kiribati is amongst the most complex and challenging in the world.

Water resources are fragile, vulnerable to drought, over-extraction and contamination. This is

further complicated by issues of land ownership and water rights, and in the urban area of

South Tarawa (Figure 3-1), a rapidly increasing population.

Figure 3-1 Tarawa Atoll and South Tarawa


Many of the issues related to WASH in Kiribati are centered on South Tarawa. The population in

South Tarawa is projected to continue to increase at a rate between 1.1-2.3%, which for a high

growth scenario, represents approximately 160% increase between 2015 to 2040 to almost

90,000 people. Even without the projected population growth, as a result of high physical losses

in the system (estimated at 67%), the average available per capita water supply from the piped

water system operated by the PUB is 11 L/day. This is far less than the actual estimated

demand of between 57 and 112 L/day and, in the context of disaster response, is considered

the absolute minimum quantity required for basic drinking, cooking and personal hygiene

needs. Consequently, people are required to use unsafe alternative water sources, with a high

proportion of the South Tarawa population using contaminated well-water for bathing (82% in

2015 census).

The existing water supply in South Tarawa is sourced from infiltration galleries located at

Bonriki and Buota, from which water is abstracted and treated with a chlorination and aeration

system and distributed along the island. Due to high production and non-revenue water (NRW)

losses and the limited supply, customers are provided with water intermittently – for a few

hours every 2-3 days. This inadequate water supply is compounded by other challenges of

climate change and variability, urban encroachment, poor infrastructure management, high

non-revenue water, little-no cost recovery, low institutional capacity and funds. South Tarawa

is strongly influenced by the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles and during La Nina

periods often experiences dry or drought conditions.

There are 7,877 number of households on South Tarawa with the number of persons per

household averaging 7.4 As illustrated in Table 3-1, in 2015 36% of the households get their

drinking water from the PUB reticulated water, 49.5% depend on rainwater, and about 12% are

still relying on groundwater, where 6% of these households are in Betio.

Table 3-1 Number of households on South Tarawa and source of drinking water

Area Total number

of

Households

PUB Pipe system

(undefined)

Well or

Ground

Water

Rainwater Other

Sth Tarawa 5,584 1,672 28 895 2,949 40

Betio 2,293 1,252 12 60 952 17

Source: GOK: 2015 Population and Housing Census Vol 1

4 GOK, 2016. 2015 Population and Housing census. Volume 1: Management report and basic tables.


The future availability of water supply and the demand for water is also influenced by climate

change. Previous studies had indicated that the main impact of climate change on South

Tarawa water supply would be a 20% reduction in the size and sustainable yield of the Bonriki

and Buota lenses from approximately the year 2030. Further analysis as part of this project

preparation (see Climate Risk Vulnerability Study as part of the Green Climate Fund application

for the project) determined a more nuanced situation: that future sea overtopping and/or

droughts, rendered far more probable by climate change, could lead to a sudden, significant

but temporary reduction in the freshwater available from the lenses.

Sea overtopping alone could lead to a 54% or more temporary reduction in freshwater yield. If

the sea overtopping occurs in combination with drought, the freshwater available from the lens

could be close to zero. The duration of such an event would vary and cannot be accurately

forecasted, but it is reasonable to estimate it would be between 3 and 5 years duration. The

return period for such an event is unknown, but it is reasonable to estimate that the return

period lies between 10 and 50 years.

The analysis as part of this study also validated two pathways through which projected climate

change affects water demand:

• Rising temperatures will lead to higher per capita demand, rising by an estimated 2

liters per capita per day;

• Climate change will contribute to projected higher population growth on South

Tarawa (relative to the national average growth), contributing an estimated

incremental increase of 2,114 persons by 2040.

An additional source of water for South Tarawa is urgently needed at an affordable cost and

needs to have the capacity to expand to meet population increases. Both the Tarawa Water

Master Plan 2010-20305 and the Tarawa Water and Sanitation Roadmap 2011-2030 concluded

that SWRO is the most practical and affordable long-term option for supplementing the water

supply.

The main activities involved in the project include:

(i) installation of a SWRO desalination plant

(ii) installation of a solar PV system with a capacity of 2.5 MW of photovoltaic

power generation to offset the energy consumption of the desalination plant,

(iii) rehabilitation of the water supply network infrastructure,

5 White, I. 2011. Tarawa Water Master Plan 2010-2030. Ministry of Public Works and Utilities/Kiribati Adaptation

Programmes Phase II Water Component 3.2.1, World Bank. AusAID, NZAID.


(iv) engagement of the private sector to improve management of water supply

infrastructure and to improve capacity of key institutions in program

management, and non-revenue water management; and

(v) implementation of a WASH awareness program to improve hygiene practices

a o g “outh Ta a a s populatio .

3.2 Project Components

3.2.1 Desalination Plant

Capacity and installation. The proposed desalination facility will be designed to accommodate

the seawater reverse osmosis system to produce 6000 m3/day, sufficient to meet the estimated

water demand in 2031. The Project will install four, 1000 m3/day capacity, systems to meet

projected demand in 2020. It is estimated that normal daily production of the plant will be 3000

m3/day, however, the plant will be able to produce a maximum of 4000 m3/day to meet peak

demand.

The location of the facility is shown in

Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3, shows the layout plan for the system. The dimensions of the area

needed for the desalination system are 36.4 m by 23 m, as shown in Figure 3-2 desalination

plan (within red dashed lines) and borehole locations (red dots) can be easily accommodated

within an area that is currently used by Dai Nippon Construction Company (Betio-Bairiki

causeway contractor).

12 different sites (Table 6-1 and Appendix 3) were proposed and considered for the location of

the desalination plant. The lands with private ownership (Sites 1 and 2) were eliminated due to

complications with land procurement. The preferred location is site 9, shown below in Figure 3-

2. It is located more than 100 meters from the shoreline and therefore will not be exposed to

coastal wave events which might cause local inundation. The ocean outfall pump station that

can provide a means of brine disposal is located across the road, saving approximately US$2

million from the cost of constructing an independent outfall system for the plant.


Figure 3-2 Proposed location of desalination plant

The water produced at the SWRO plant will be pumped to the Betio main water reservoir

where it will be distributed using the existing water supply network.

Figure 3-3 Site Plan for the Desalination Plant

Bores within

property

boundary


Source of feed water and conveyance. The feed water to the plant will be sourced from 12

constructed wells to be located within the proposed boundary of the desalination plant (

Figure 3-2). Each well will be drilled approximately 20 - 30 meters apart and to a depth of

approximately 35 meters. The depth is within the Pleistocene limestone with high salinity

groundwater (see Section 4). Sourcing the feed water at this depth will not impose adverse

impact on the overlying freshwater lens that is used by the local community. There will be

seven wells needed for the initial four desalination reverse osmosis systems with two

additional wells that will provide spare pumping capacity. Another three wells will be required

to allow for two future SWRO systems planned.

Each well will be 200mm in diameter with 150mm polyvinyl chloride (PVC) internal casings with

screens equipped with 100mm submersible pump. The wells will be installed as follows;

• The bottom 15 m of the borehole will be fitted with 3 m lengths of 150 mm PVC

screwed-end, machine-slotted screens and fitted with a 150 mm screwed end cap

at the base.

• The suggested slot pattern for the 150 mm PVC screens is five rows of 1.5 mm wide

x 50 mm long radial slots with 40 mm gap between rows of slots. There will be a

spacing of 8 mm between slots along the full length of the screen, except near

screwed ends.

• Above the 15 m screen section will consist of five 3 m screens. Seven 3 m lengths

of 150 mm PVC casing should be installed, giving 21 m total length, the casing

terminating about 1 m above ground. The end should be temporarily fitted with a

150 mm screwed end cap.

The above slot pattern will enable a continuous flow rate of 17 L/s to be drawn through the 15

lo g s ee at a elo it elo the sta da d elo it . Based o pu pi g tests a ied out at Buariki on North Tarawa and Ebeye (Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands) the drawdown at the

wells from a pumping rate of 17L/s is likely to be less than about 0.3 to 0.5m and diminishes

with distance from the well. Although there are differences between wells referenced above

and the ones proposed in this project, drawdown will be undetectable beyond a distance of 15-

20m from each well.

The expected salinity of the groundwater pumped from 35 m below ground level would be very

saline and close to seawater salinity. The feed water obtained from wells below the aquifer are

naturally filtered and has more constant solute and impurity levels. The quality of feed water

adopted for the preparation of SWRO concept design is shown in Table 3-1. Water quality

testing is required during the next stage of the project to verify actual water quality.


Table 3-1 Feed water quality

Parameter Units High salinity Low salinity

pH 8.2 8.2

Sodium mg/L 11,002 9,169

Potassium mg/L 399 333

Calcium mg/L 426 355

Magnesium mg/L 1,325 1,104

Strontium mg/L 13 11

Chloride mg/L 19,796 16,496

Sulphate mg/L 2,764 2,303

Bromide mg/L 68 56

Carbonate mg/L 30 25

Bicarbonate mg/L 148 124

Fluoride mg/L 1 1

Borate mg/L 28 23

TDS mg/L 36,000 30,000

Source: STWP PPTA Design for Desalination Plant

Prior to the use of each well, the end 150mm casing located above ground will be fitted with a

150mm heavy duty plastic lockable well-plug. The lid would stay locked until the pump and

associated electrical and safety cables and delivery pipe work are ready to be installed.

Pre-treatment. Media filtration is proposed to attain a quality of feed water with turbidity less

than 1 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU) or as close to 0.1NTU as possible, and silt density

Index (SDI) of less than 5. The media essentially has dual media beds with anthracite as the top

layer and silica sand as the lower layer. Ten filters are proposed so that the full production of

4,000m3/day can be achieved with one filter out of service.

To contain filtered feed-water it is proposed that a 50m3 filtrate tank is installed downstream of

the media filter and a low pressure forwarding pumps is installed upstream of the high-pressure

reverse osmosis pumps. Thus, the filtrate tank isolates the bore pump operation from the

reverse osmosis plant. To allow for the tank overflow, an overflow pipe is proposed to run in

parallel to the brine line and the sewage outfall pipe and terminate at the tidal reef flat close to

the beach.

Regular backwash occurring once every 24 hours to remove captured suspended solids from

the filters is essentially required. It is proposed that one filter should be backwashed at a time.


To achieve the backwash process two backwash pumps are required operating at duty/standby

configuration.

Cartridge filter. From the low pressure forwarding pump, the filtered water then passes

through the cartridge filter (nominal filtration to 5 microns) to remove any fine contaminants

that might be present downstream of the media filtration system. The cartridge filters are to be

installed on each of the reverse osmosis skid.

Reverse osmosis system. All equipment associated with a 1000m3/day reverse osmosis system

will be installed on a skid that can be easily transported by a 40ft container and installed on a

plinth constructed as part of the floor slab in the building. Each skid will have the following; low

pressure forwarding pump, cartridge filter, anti-scaling dosing pump, high pressure pump,

pressure vessel rack containing reverse osmosis elements, energy recovery device, booster

pump for the energy recovery device, high pressure and low-pressure piping, manual and

automated valves, instrumentation and remote IO cubicle.

The water is fed into the reverse osmosis system after the filtration process by the high-

pressure pump. To maintain the setpoint permeate production of 1,000m3/day and system

recovery of 43% an automated control system will be installed to automatically adjust pump

speed and hence the inlet pressure to the reverse osmosis membrane. The energy requirement

to operate the RO system is considerably high, however there are currently available

technologies that are being used to conserve energy in the reverse osmosis operation. An

energy recovery device known as pressure exchanger will be incorporated in the RO system.

The device recovers the hydraulic energy from the rejected brine stream; by incorporating the

device the size of the high-pressure pump can be reduced (further contributing to the energy

efficiency of the system). Some of the pressure exchanger devices, PX device for instance is

known to reduce energy usage up to 60%.

In seawater reverse osmosis, the formation of calcium carbonate scales over the membrane is

inevitable reducing its performance over time. For this project, it is proposed that a central

storage tank housing the anti-scalant with a dosing pump be installed on each reverse osmosis

skid. The anti-scalant is a phosphate-based chemical used on a continuous basis for injection

into the feed stream to the reverse osmosis system. The estimated dose rate is 2 mg/L.

Additionally, regular chemical cleaning of each reverse osmosis system is also required three

times per year to maintain high performance. The chemical to be used depends on the type of

fouling and therefore cleaning that is required:

• Citric acidic cleaning to remove metals and salts (carbonates) precipitates. Usually

the concentration used is 2%;


• Alkaline detergent cleaning to remove fouling caused by organics, colloids or

biofouling. The chemical used is sodium lauryl sulfate and usually applied at 0.025%

concentration; and,

• Biocide cleaning to remove fouling from bacteria, yeast and fungi. Usually this

cleaning is very unlikely to be applied.

The final selection of chemicals will be decided by the supplier of the reverse osmosis systems.

Flushing of the membrane by fresh water produced from the system is also required for normal

shutdown to displace saline feed water and to flush cleaning solution from the system after the

chemical cleaning process. Where the RO system will not be required due to low demand,

recirculating of a 1% sodium bisulphite solution within the system is needed to preserve the

membrane.

The waste from the chemical cleaning process will be discharged to a 40m3 sump to be located

within the desalination plant compound (exact site to be determined in detail design by

contractor). is the waste will be neutralized in the sump before it is discharged by a submersible

pump to the main disposal pipeline. The pump will also be used to provide a mixing

environment for the neutralization process required.

Post-treatment. Based on the Concept Design Report6, the quantity of the chemicals required

in the re-mineralisation process is considerably high, 90 kg of 90% purity hydrated lime and 96

kg/day of carbon dioxide and are not readily available in the Country and must be imported on

a continuous basis. Further, the above quantity will add 37 mg/l of total dissolved solids (TDS)

to the final drinking water. Additionally, the corrosiveness characteristics of the permeate on

the concrete will not be an issue as the reticulation system are predominantly plastics,

therefore any form of re-mineralisation will not be pursued. However, treating the permeate

with chlorine will still be applied. Chlorination of water will be based on the use of gases

chlorination as currently practiced on South Tarawa. The recommended dose is 3 mg/L.

Brine disposal. The maximum volume of brine flow rate for each of the reserve osmosis rack is

7,953 m3 per day (Table 3-2) when all the six racks are installed. For the four racks that will be

installed in the proposed Project, the maximum flow rate is 5,302 m3 per day or 61.37 L/s.

6 GHD, 2017. Report for ADB and Government of Kiribati – TA-9200 KIR: South Tarawa Water Supply Project

(49453-001)-Project Preparatory Technical Assistance (PPTAA), Output 8 – Concept Design for Desalination

Plant


Table 3-2 Brine flow rate

Number of

operating racks

Volume of brine produced

per day (m3)

Brine Flow (L/s)

1 1326 15.34

2 2651 30.68

3 3977 46.03

4 5302 61.37

5 6628 76.71

6 7953 92.05

Source: STWP PPTA Output 8 Design for Desalination Plant

At a recovery of 43% the brine will be 1.75 times the concentration of the feed water. Beside

the brine as the major component of the total waste flow from the desalination system, the

other components include;

• Backwash and maturation flow from the filter backwash sequence with an

estimated daily volume of 290 m3.

• Neutralized water from chemical cleaning sump which will be discharged

intermittently at approximately monthly interval. The expected quantity is about

20 m3 per cleaning operation.

• Seawater flush in the final stage of chemical cleaning operation. The flow rate is

about 27m/s for a period of about 10 minutes.

Table 3-3 shows the expected salinity level of the combine effluent once the brine is combined

with the raw sewage.

Table 3-3 Combined brine and sewage discharge volume and salinity

Operation Drinking water

production

m3/day

Brine flow rate

m3/day

Brine salinity

mg/L

Normal 3000 5,705 54,800

Peak 4000 7,030 56,350

Future 6000 9,681 58,200

Source: STWP PPTA Output 8 Design for Desalination Plant

The total waste to be disposed will be routed from the desalination facility directly to the

existing outfall pipeline at the outfall pump station (Figure 3-4). This is located across the road

where it will be combined with raw sewage and subsequently discharged to the ocean through


the existing DN 300 PE outfall pipeline. To allow the brine to be discharged through the sewage

outfall pipeline the existing gravity flow system will be converted to a pressurized system. The

works required to change the system include:

• Installation of a new sump downstream of the existing screen to accept screened

effluent

• Procurement of two additional submersible pumps that will pressurized the system

• Mechanical and electrical installation of the submersible pumps in the new sump

• Control system to maintain controlled flow from new pumps, irrespective of the

brine flow rate

• Modification of existing outfall piping to accept sewage inflow from pumping

station and brine from desalination plant

• Connection of brine into the modified outfall pipeline

Figure 3-4 - Direction of brine from desalination plant

The figure shows brine from desalination plant (blue arrow) and the additional work (enclosed

in green box) required at the outfall pump station to change the system from gravity to

pressure feed. The outfall is equipped with a diffuser system that has 12 outlet ports located at

a depth of between 25 to 30 meters.

Power supply. The desalination plant will run on the exiting PUB power grid with a backup

generator provided. It is expected that PUB will install two additional high speed electrical

generators at its PUB sites in Betio with constant power supply adding more stability to

electricity source.


Summary. The following is a summary of the activities involved in construction of the

desalination plant.

• Construction of building that will house the desalination plant and raised platform

within the building for each of 1000 m3 RO skid

• Drilling of boreholes and well construction

• Construction of a 40m3 sump to store the wastewater from the chemical cleaning

process;

• Installation of chlorination and chemical cleaning facility as part of the desalination

plant.

• Installation of standby generator and electrical components of the desalination

system

• Pipe connection between the different components of the desalination system

• Trenching activities for construction of transmission pipe of permeate to the storage

tank located at the existing PUB water storage tank in Betio

• Trenching activities for construction of transmission pipe of brine to the existing

outfall pipeline;

• Upgrading work on the existing outfall system.

3.2.2 PV Solar System

The power supply to the desalination facility when it is operating at peak production will be

around 500 kW. It is proposed to offset the energy consumption with 2.5MW of PV power

generation, which will be installed at the Bonriki water reserve area (Figure 3-5) and to be

connected to the electricity power grid. The total land area required is approximately

3 hectares. The area is under a long-term lease agreement by the Government as part of the

National Water Reserve.


Figure 3-5 Proposed site of the PV Solar system

3.2.3 Water Supply Infrastructure

Table 3-2 provides a list of the water supply infrastructure within the supply network on South

Tarawa and Betio that requires upgrading and Figure 3-6 illustrates supply network and existing

water storage infrastructure along the island. Note that some of the upgrading works will be

undertaken through Kiribati Adaptation Program Phase Three (KAP III) which is addressing non-

revenue water in South Tarawa.

The activities involved include;

(i) upgrading of the chlorination storage facility from an open ventilated facility to

an international compliance standard and the chlorination gas cylinder from the

existing direct injection to flow paced;

(ii) renewal of a water transmission main at Temwaiku village from the existing

DN100 to DN200 PE100 capacity;

(iii) installation of a new DN160 PE100 transmission main at Buota village;

(iv) installation of new 22kl ground tank at Buota with a booster pump;


(v) installation of new ground water tanks of varying capacities (refer to Table 3-2)

with appropriate booster pumps to serve 2040 demand at existing locations of

overhead storage tanks on South Tarawa;

(vi) installation of a new water reticulation network at Buota and expansion of the

network at Bonriki to area that currently has no reticulated supply;

(vii) Installation of new PE pipelines and meters to replace the existing reticulation

network at Temwaiku, Hospital at Nawerewere, Bangantebure, Eita, Tebunia,

Ambo, Banraeaba, Antemai, Teaoraereke and Bairiki.

Figure 3-6: Existing Water Network Diagram

3.3 Proposed Implementation Schedule and Workforce Component

Follo i g the app o al of the p oje t s detail desig a d the o pletio of iddi g do u e ts toward mid-2019, implementation of construction is expected to commence shortly after the

contractor/s is or are identified. The workforce will be small-scale. It is expected that most of

the skilled labor force (90%) will be sourced locally, with expatriates filling the supervisory,

skilled plant operation and management positions.


Table 3-2 Water Supply Infrastructure - Summary of Proposed Upgrades

Infrastructure Description Existing

Size/Capacity

Proposed Upgrade

HEADWORKS - BUOTA AND BONRIKI

Bonriki - chlorination Gas cylinder direct injection 300 g/hr 3.7 mg/L (av.) Upgrade so that the dosing rate is flow paced

Bonriki – chlorine storage Open ventilated storage of cylinders New compliant storage facility

HEADWORKS – BETIO DESALINATION PLANT (PROPOSED)

Betio – on-ground storage Concrete tank split into two portions 2 320 kL KAPIII project proposed rehabilitation spot repairs as required

Betio headworks – pumping

station (PS)

N.A. (new) New pumping facility (desal. water to transmission main)

PIPELINES

Temaiku distribution main –

transmission main

Existing pipeline too small for future

requirements

DN100 DN200 PE100

Buota distribution main –

transmission main

New – to provide water to an area that currently

has no reticulated supply

N.A. (new) DN160 PE100

CHLORINE DOSING STATIONS

Betio - chlorination Gas cylinder direct injection 1.1 mg/L Replaced by new disinfection process part of desalination plant

DISTRIBUTION AREAS – STORAGES AND BOOSTER PUMPING STATIONS

Buota - tank New – area currently has no reticulated supply N.A. (new) 22 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Buota - booster PS New – area currently has no reticulated supply N.A. (new) Booster Pumps No. and configuration to be determined

Bonriki - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bonriki – on-ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 158 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Bonriki – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Temaiku – on-ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 158 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Temaiku – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined



Size/Capacity

Proposed Upgrade

Hospital – on-ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 148 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Hospital – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

McKenzie – on-ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 84 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

McKenzie – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Bikenibeu KGV - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bikenibeu KGV – on-ground Existing - concrete roofed structure 210 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank.

Bikenibeu KGV – tank (disused) Existing - concrete tank in-ground 220 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bikenibeu KGV – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (New) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Bikenibeu OH - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bikenibeu OH – in-ground tank Existing - concrete tank in-ground 220 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bikenibeu OH – tank (disused) Existing - concrete tank in-ground 220 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bikenibeu OH – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (New) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Bangantebure - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bangantebure – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 130 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Bangantebure – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Eita - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Eita – on-ground (three) tanks Existing - concrete tanks 3 x 22 kL (66 kL) KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage.

Eita – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 42 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Eita – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Tebunia – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 111 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Tebunia – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Ambo - elevated tank Existing - Reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage



Size/Capacity

Proposed Upgrade

Ambo – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 127 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Ambo – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Banraeaba - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Banraeaba – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 94 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Banraeaba – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Antemai - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAPIII proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Antemai – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 152 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Antemai – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Teaoraereke - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Teaoraereke – on-ground ( Existing - concrete tanks 5 x 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Teaoraereke – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 39 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Teaoraereke – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (new) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Nanikaai - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Nanikaai – on ground tank Storage to meet peak demand of distribution area N.A. (new) 67 kL on ground tank to serve 2040 demands

Nanikaai – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (New) Booster pumps number and configuration to be determined

Bairiki - elevated tank Existing - reinforced concrete tank 22 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bairiki – in-ground tank Existing - concrete tank in-ground 220 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bairiki – in-ground tank Existing - concrete tank in-ground 220 kL KAP III proposed rehabilitation of existing tank to rectify leakage

Bairiki – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (New) KAP III - booster pumps proposed as part of upgrade.

Betio – booster PS Boosts supply pressure within distribution area N.A. (New) KAP III - booster pumps proposed as part of upgrade.

DISTRIBUTION AREAS - RETICULATION NETWORK

Buota New – area currently has no reticulated supply N.A. (New) New PE pipelines and service connections and meters



Size/Capacity

Proposed Upgrade

Bonriki New – expand to none-reticulated supply area New reticulation in the north/north east of the island

Temaiku Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Hospital Existing reticulation (installed in 1986) New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

McKenzie Existing reticulation (installed in 1986) Detailed design part of KAP III

Bikenibeu KGV Existing reticulation (installed in 1986) Detailed design part of KAP III

Bikenibeu OH Existing reticulation (installed in mid 1980s) Detailed design part of KAP III

Bangantebure Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Eita Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Tebunia Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Ambo Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Banraeaba Existing reticulation New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Antemai Existing reticulation (minor installation 2004) New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Teaoraereke Existing reticulation (minor installation 2004) New PE pipelines, service connections and meters (replace existing)

Bairiki Existing reticulation (installed in mid 1980s) Detailed design part of KAP III

Betio Existing reticulation. Detailed design part of KAP III

Note: Kiribati Adaptation Program - Phase Three (KAP III), under the auspices of the Office of Beretitenti, is addressing non-revenue

water in South Tarawa.


4. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

4.1 Physical Environment

4.1.1 Geology and Soils

The Tarawa atoll developed from a volcano which appeared between 55 million and 65 million

years ago (during the Paleocene geologic epoch). Over time, the peak of the volcano sank

below sea level due to subsidence of the ocean floor. The island surface is formed by

successive coral deposits around the old and now submerged volcano. Atolls originate as coral

reef formations at the tidal level at the rim of the original volcano, these formations rise in

successive layers of dead coral. When the reef rises above sea level, coral ceases to grow. Coral

growth will resume if the atoll drops below the surface of the sea. The vertical growth from this

process keeps the reefs at or near the surface of the ocean as the volcano subsides. The atolls

of North and South Tarawa, and surrounding reef delineate the edges of the lagoon which

occupies the site of the former volcanic core. The atolls and lagoon cover the peak of the

former volcano, which rises sharply from the seabed.

Like other coral atolls and islands, the nature of the soil is derived from limestone which has

been formed due to coral formation over thousands of years. The soil is alkaline and therefore

it does not support the growth of certain plants and trees. The soil is porous and lacks essential

elements which makes it unable to support plant life. The topsoil which comprises decaying or

composted organic matter mainly decaying leaves and plant materials is thinly spread over

most of the area with plant cover and other areas covered with wild bushes.

4.1.2 Climate and Climate Change

Tarawa has a maritime tropical climate.7 Two seasons occur, characterised mainly by the

wind patterns but also by rainfall. Between October and March, easterly trade-winds

predominate and rainfall is generally higher, while between April and September, more

variable winds occur including westerlies, which can be strong and rainfall is lower.

Temperatures generally vary between 28°C and 32°C, averaging 31°C, though monthly

averages remain very constant between 26°C (February) and 28°C (September). Rainfall

averages 2,027 mm annually; however this varies widely, between 398mm and 4,333mm.

The main reason for this variability is the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

7 GOK 2014. Kiribati Joint Implementation Plan for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management / developed

by the Government of Kiribati. SPC Noumea.


Many Kiribati islands lie within the equatorial waters that warm significantly during an El Niño

event and cool during a La Niña event. As a result, rainfall is much higher than normal during an

El Niño event and much lower during a La Niña event. Maximum air temperatures tend to be

higher than normal during El Niño years, driven by the warmer oceans surrounding the islands,

while in the dry season minimum air temperatures in El Niño years are below normal.

El Niño is generally associated with above-normal rainfall and strong westerly winds, while La

Niña is associated with below-normal rainfall and the risk of drought. Prolonged drought

periods were encountered in 1988 to early 1989 and followed by another in 1998 extending

into mid-1999 and resulting in the loss of many valuable food crops including coconuts (Cocos

nucifera) and breadfruits (Artocarpus sp.). Unlike many other Pacific islands, Tarawa rarely

experiences cyclones.

Climate change is a longer-term phenomenon and will result in landform changes which may

become unstable or untenable for communities. Using the 18 Global Climate Model data

obtained from the International Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3)

experiments, Pacific Climate Change Science Program reports that over the course of the 21st

century, mean rainfall, air temperature, sea surface temperature and the frequency and

strength of extreme events are likely to increase.8 Mean sea-level is also projected to continue

to increase during the 21st century. According to a study carried out under Kiribati Adaptation

Project Phase Two (KAPII) in 2008 the groundwater yields from Bonriki and Buota reserves are

expected to be reduced by about 19% by 2030.9 With the increase in mean sea level South

Tarawa could loss 25 to 54% of its land mass by 2050.10

4.1.3 Water Resources

Ground water. Shallow groundwater is the principal source of fresh water in Kiribati. South

Tarawa s water supply originates from the water reserve areas in the villages of Bonriki and

Buota where water is extracted and reticulated through a water supply system. Climatic

conditions have a major influence on fresh water resources in Kiribati. Underground freshwater

lenses are recharged by rainfall and households frequently use rainwater catchments to

supplement other water sources. Thus, for many reasons, prolonged periods of low rainfall or

even droughts have had serious implications in the past. The droughts associated with well-

8 BoM and CSIRO. 2011. Climate Change in the Pacific: Scientific Assessment and New Research - Vol. 2: Country

Reports) produced by the Pacific Climate Change Science Program

9 GOK & ADB. 2012. South Tarawa Water Supply Options Assessment Desalination Feasibility Study Volume 1 –

Appendix E: South Tarawa Desalination Plants Environment Assessment. (STSISP TA-7359-KIR). 10 World Bank. 2000. Cities, Seas and Storms: Managing Change in Pacific Island Economies. Vol IV. Adapting to

Climate Change, World Bank, Washington.


developed La Niña conditions are evident. The provision of a desalination plant in this proposed

project will supplement the shortage of water envisaged.

Marine water. The coastal area of South Tarawa is polluted and littered with rubbish due to

illegal rubbish disposal, open defecating practices, and animal wastes. Also, effluent from the

remaining sewage outfalls that have not been rehabilitated will continue to pollute the

intertidal zone. The coastal water quality on South Tarawa tested by the New Zealand Institute

of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA) in 2014 shows varying degrees of pollution (Figure 4-1).11

Figure 4-1 Pollution level along the coastal areas of South Tarawa

Source: NIWA 2014

11 NIWA 2014. Water Quality Report Card Kiribati 2014. NZAID/GOK


Through the South Tarawa Sanitation Improvement Sector Project, the sewerage outfalls at

Bikenibeu, Bairiki and Betio have been extended beyond the surf zone to a depth of 30 meters

and with a 10 m diffuser connected to each. Prompt dilution of the effluent is expected once

discharged due to presence of diffuser ports and how the ports are oriented to the direction of

the current. The new outfall construction was completed in 2017.

A 2015 study shows that the direction of the nearshore ocean current changes to an eastward

direction according to the tide, but currents are generally moving in a westward direction.12

The currents velocity measured at different depth, 15m, 25m and 30m was variable, depending

upon tidal conditions, the velocity ranges between 0.2 – 1.0 m/s. Wind driven set-up on the

windward ocean reef and wind stress on the surface are also the driving mechanism of water

circulation and flushing.13 The dredged ship and boat channels over the reef also contribute to

the magnitude of water movement at the reef intertidal zone around the atoll islands.14 The

main shipping channel at Betio is located about 6.5 km from the outfall pipeline.

The Environmental Health and Laboratory Units under the Ministry of Health and Medical

Services have facilities to test water quality. Currently they have a program established to

undertake water quality measurements. The capacity of the Water Division under the MISE is

limited to some features of water quality only such as salinity, by the type of machine and

testing probes currently available on hand.

4.2 Biological Environment

4.2.1 Marine Resources

Mangrove and coral ecosystems have significant ecological significance. Mangroves occur on

reef mud flats at the lagoon margins at certain areas and provide a coastal protection function

as well as an important habitat for marine organisms. Mangroves have been subject to

depletion, but mangrove forest areas are being rehabilitated by the government under the

World Bank funded Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase 3 (KAP III). Seagrass beds, which

provide an important habitat for shellfish and other organisms, occur extensively within the

lagoon particularly toward the southeast. No mangroves or seagrass are located within the

vicinity of the sewerage outfall to be used for Brine Disposal, as the outfall is located on the

ocean side reef flat.

12 SMEC 2015. ICB-02 Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Ocean Outfalls at Betio, Bairiki and Bikenibeu Ocean

Outfalls Concept and Options Report. (ADB Grant-0263 STSISP)

13 Callaghan, D.P. etal (2006). Atoll lagoon flushing forces by waves. Coastal Engineering 53, 691-704.

14 Lelaurin, J. 2000. Hydrodynamic simulation with MIKE21 of Abaiang atoll, Kiribati. SOPAC Training Report 87.


Coral reefs surrounding the atoll and within the lagoon provide habitat to reef fish species and

other marine species, including turtles, supporting a complex and bio-diverse community.

Common fish species found at the site include surgeon fish (Acanthurus lineatus, A.triostegus,

A.xanthopterus), soldier fish (Myripristis species) parrot fish (Scarrus species). Red snapper

(Lutjanus gibbus) and L.bohar (known to be ciguatoxic) are also commonly caught by local

residents fishing in the area. Figure 4-2 provides a perspective view of the reef/intertidal

platform to the reef slope, typical of reef front in Kiribati atoll islands. 15 The reef/intertidal

platform is the section located between the beach shoreline to the reef margin with the

distance ranging between less than 10 meters to more than a kilometer.

Figure 4-2 Seaward reef front perspective

The alignment of the Betio outfall is shown on Figure 4.3.

15 Zann, L.P.1986. The Marine Ecology of Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Republic of Kiribati. Coastal Zone Surveys on

Sedimentation, Erosion, Pollution Problems in Kiribati. CCOP/SOPAC Technical Report 23.


Figure 4-3 Betio sewage outfall pipeline route

Source: Fellenius Consultants 201716

Coral and micro-algae. On the reef flat adjacent to the Betio outfall pipeline route (where brine

from the desalination plant is to be discharged) the odoriferous and fast growing red macro-

algae, Hypnea sp. is predominant. The algae proliferate under nutrient-loading conditions from

the sewage effluent discharge. It occurs as both attached and unattached mats.17 For that

reason, it is omnipresent when exposed or caught in pools at low tide, but partly washes away

16 Fellenius Consultants/Maritime Constructions Inc., 2017. STSISP Betio Outfall Post-Installation Survey Report 17 Fellenius,K. and Hess,D.2015. Benthic morphology and marine life assessment for the siting of ocean outfalls on

South Tarawa. STSISP, MPWU Kiribati


when the tide rises. They produce bad odor and are a nuisance when the dead algae

accumulate on the beach.

The marine life assessment survey completed at the Betio Outfall site in 2015 found the

substrate and algae that is representative of the outer 100 m of the intertidal reef flat is

comprised of negligible sand, with about 70% cover of turf algae. 18 Roughly half of the turf

algae are red cyanobacteria microalgae, and half are fleshy green microalgae. Both arise from

high nutrient and high energy conditions with enough sunlight. Figure 4-4, extracted from the

marine life assessment survey report completed at the Betio Outfall site, gives the average

percent cover for substrate and benthic categories on the subtidal reef flat. All invertebrates

other than coral and zoanthids are absent. The survey found that whilst there is no baseline

comparison available for this outfall, it is likely that the low coral cover, lack of coralline algae,

high turf algae, and the high rubble, debris, and rock cover across the reef flat, crest, and slope

can be attributed to both the 2009 Crown-of-Thorns sea star infestation and to nutrient loading

conditions since the outfall pipes broke in the shallows a half decade ago. The heavy siltation

combined with limited variety in coral growth forms is consistent with the transition towards an

algae-dominated reef.

Figure 4-4 Betio Subtidal Reef Flat Substrate and Benthic Categories

Source: STSISP - Fellenius Consultants 2017 (after footnote 18)

The marine life assessment survey also found that coral cover on the outer reef crest is less

than 5% to the east and about 15% to the west of point 14 (refer to Figure 4-3). It is mainly H.

coerulea with some encrusting varieties. There was also less silt than was observed on the

subtidal reef flat.

18 Ibid


There are slightly less turf algae at 50% cover, consistent with lower energy on the crest than

on the subtidal reef flat yet with a significant nutrient load. Fleshy coralline algae are present at

15%. Crustose coralline algae are absent.

Figure 4-5 and Figure 4-6 extracted from the post-installation survey report completed at the

Betio Outfall site19 give the average percent cover for substrate and benthic categories on the

reef crest and reef slope, respectively. The crest has the same 65% undesirable algae and 10%

coral cover as for the subtidal reef flat. The slope has less of both, although blue-green algae

are at 10%. In contrast with the subtidal reef flat, the positive attributes of the reef crest are

that it has less turf algae and more coralline algae, albeit the fleshy variety. It has more

submassive coral, but with limited species richness beyond H. coerulea. The negatives are that

it has less rock and more rubble, and therefore less stable surfaces available for re-growth.

Figure 4-5 Betio reef crest substrate and benthic categories

Source: Fellenius Consultants 2017 (after footnote 19)

In contrast with the reef crest, the positive attributes of the reef slope are that it has less turf

algae. The negatives are that it has less rock and more debris, and therefore minimal stable

surfaces available for re-growth. This is in part mitigated by the lower energy environment.

19 Ibid


Figure 4-6 Betio reef slope substrate and benthic categories

Source: Fellenius Consultants 2017 (after footnote 19)

The nearest diffuser (discharge point) for the sewage, that will also be used for brine disposal, is

located at a depth of 30 meters and is about 47 meters away (south) from the shallower and

nearest live coral (Hypnea coerulea).

Corals near the ocean outfalls on South Tarawa. including Betio outfall, were studied more

specifically by a monitoring team in 2005. The team used a line intercept transect methodology,

which involves placing a tape along a contour on the sea floor, and noting the substrates

beneath the tape and length at which they change. Transects were taken 100 m either side of

each outfall opening and at a control site. The results showed a greater coverage of dead coral

and of macro algae at the sites near the outfalls, compared with the control site. Nearer the

outfalls themselves, reduced diversity of coral species was observed.20

Pelagic fish form an important part of the local economy, both through commercial fishing

activities and game fishing, focusing on tuna. Fishing activity focuses on areas known to be

abundant and these occur throughout Kiribati waters and include several favored sites around

Tarawa, usually distant to the coast. For lagoon and coastal fisheries, overpopulation pressures

in South Tarawa are threatening the sustainability of these fisheries through overfishing.21

20 Tonganibeia, K. 2005. Impacts assessment of Betio, Bairiki and Bikenibeu Sewage Outfalls on Coral Reef. Report

prepared for PMO and Steering Committee, SAPHE.

21 Campbell B, Hanich Q. 2014. Fish for the future. Fisheries development and food security for Kiribati in an era

of global climate change. Project Report 2014-47. Worldfish. Penang, Malaysia.


Protected and conservation areas. While Kiribati has several protected areas, there are

currently no actively managed conservation areas in the Gilbert Islands. There have, however,

been efforts in the recent past, including the North Tarawa Conservation Area which was

officially established in 1996 and the North Tarawa lagoon was also proposed as a key

biodiversity area due to its habitat for endangered species; Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas), Big

Eye Tuna (Thunnus obesus), Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulates), Giant clam (Tridacna

gigas). Mangrove, coral, and sea-grass ecosystems, which occur around South Tarawa, are of

conservation significance. Mangroves of the species Rhizophora stylosa, and Brugulera

gymnorhiza occur predominantly at the eastern corner of South Tarawa lagoon. Replanting of

the mangroves along the coastal areas in Kiribati including South Tarawa is on-going as part of

KAP III. Corals occur adjacent to the Betio outfall.

The 90 species in Kiribati that are classified on the IUCN Red List as threatened species include

72 corals, nine marine fish, two turtles, a giant clam and a mammal.

4.2.2 Terrestrial Resources

Flora. Indigenous flora and vegetation of Kiribati is among the least diverse and poorest on

earth.22 In the Gilbert Islands, including Tarawa, and some locations in other inhabited islands,

this flora has been severely modified or removed. Generally, terrestrial vegetation in Kiribati is

limited to coastal strand vegetation, mangroves and coastal marsh vegetation (limited), inland

forest, and pinnacle vegetation on limestone escarpments. The vegetation on South Tarawa is

substantially influenced by human habitation and has little biodiversity conservation

significance. The selected sites for the proposed the project are located at areas with varying

degrees of disturbance to natural vegetation but is dominated by ferns, coconut palm, saltbush,

breadfruit and te ango (Permna serratifolia), pandanus (Pandanus fanning enosis) and starbuck

island daisy (Bidens kiribatiensis).

Terrestrial fauna. There are no endemic mammals or avifauna on Tarawa.23 Two avifauna

species are included in the 90 species classified on the IUCN Red List as threatened species.

Species of seabird that are commonly sighted on South Tarawa include a black tern (Anous

minutus morcusi) and white tern (Gygis microrhyncha). The sparse number of avifauna may be

influenced by the high population on South Tarawa and probably the impact of the invasive

ship rat (Rattus rattus). The rat is a nuisance in almost every household on the island.

22 GOK - MELAD. 2013. Kiribati Biodiversity Area Report (South Tarawa, Kiribati). 23 Two endemic avifauna species exist on Kiritimati (Christmas) Island.


4.3 Socio-Economic Environment

4.3.1 Population

South Tarawa is densely populated, with inhabitants originating from islands throughout the

group as well as South Tarawa itself. Even between the main urban areas of Bonriki, Bikenibeu,

Bairiki and Betio, land is almost entirely taken up by residential, commercial and communal

buildings and their surrounding compounds. According to the 2015 census the population

stands at some 56,388 people representing an average population density of around 2,772

people per square kilometer (km2) over less than 15 km2 of land area. Within the urban areas,

such as Betio, it reaches 10,377 people/km2 which is very high among Pacific capitals (c.f. Apia

- 6,534 people/km2, Majuro - 2,628 people/km2, Nuku alofa - 2,073 people/km2 and Funafuti -

1,872 people/km2 ). While measures were taken in the past to encourage migration to outlying

atolls, at present extensive in-migration occurs and the population of South Tarawa is growing

by 4.4% per year (Figure 4-7). In 2015, at the time of the last census, the population of South

Tarawa represented some 51.2% of the total population of Kiribati. The average household size

is large, at seven people per household and households with 15 or more inhabitants are not

uncommon.

Figure 4-7 Population of Kiribati and South Tarawa 1930 – 2010

Source: GOK-MFED - Kiribati 2010 Census. Volume 2: Analytical Report (2012)

Due to this overcrowding effect, South Tarawa faces serious environmental and social

problems, pollution of ground water, polluted lagoon and beaches due to open defecating,

scarcity of freshwater and high unemployment.


4.3.2 Economy

The economy of Kiribati features the extreme distances between its islands (the two gaps

between the three island groups are both approximately 1,000 km), paucity of natural

resources and distances to international markets. Fishing licenses, copra and seaweed provide

some international revenue, and many Kiribati families are reliant on remittances from family

members working offshore, often in international merchandised and fishing vessels. Some

tourism takes place. Competition is high among Pacific nations to market traditional attractions

such as secluded beach locations, and culture, and Kiribati is not well located in terms of

proximity to the major markets of the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand and

therefore does not compete easily with other tourist destinations in the Pacific. However, war

relicts from World War II (WWII) on South Tarawa in particular Betio, game fishing and the

millennium islands, (whose proximity to the international dateline provides them with the

distinction of being the first to celebrate each New Year) encourage some visitors. Visitors

number between 3,000 and 4,000 each year and bring some significant revenue.

The economy of South Tarawa reflects its fu tio oth as the atio s apital a d the ai sea and international airport. The service sector accounts for most employment and 80% of jobs

are with the public sector.

4.3.3 Infrastructure, Public Services and Utilities

Transport. There are only two paved roads on South Tarawa and Kiritimati. A program to

construct causeways between North and South Tarawa was completed in the mid-1990s. The

road throughout South Tarawa except Tanaea has been rehabilitated to a quality standard with

funding support from ADB and World Bank. The causeway connecting the rest of South Tarawa

to the main shipping port located at Betio is being rehabilitated with completion scheduled to

beginning of 2019.

Kiribati has 21 airports; two of them (Bonriki and Kiritimati) served by international flights, only

four of them with paved runways. The country has domestic fleets to serve the outer islands.

Water supply. The existing public water supply system is operated by Public Utilities Board

(PUB) for the entire population on South Tarawa. Overall the water supply infrastructure is in

poor condition with numerous water leakages in the reticulated system. Fresh water is supplied

from fresh groundwater reserves extracted from a total of 28 galleries in Bonriki and Buota,

with a total sustainable yield from the groundwater lenses of 2,010 m3/day. An estimated fresh

water demand for South Tarawa by 2020 is 3,735 m3/day projected under the high population

growth and conservative leakage control scenario. Although rainwater is harvested by

residents, this is not enough to augment supplies from the reticulated system in South Tarawa.


Supplementing water supply by Seawater Reverse Osmosis as proposed in this project will

provide a sustainable freshwater supply to meet the growing demand.

Electricity supply. PUB is responsible for the electrical power supply on South Tarawa. There

are approximately 6,331 households connected to grid with a contracted power per household

of about 500 to 700 watts. The average monthly consumption of electricity lays between 150

and 200kWh; with monthly bills for electricity of AUD 60 to 80 per household. The number of

illegally connected households is not known; PUB is just planning an investigation. Beside the

domestic connections, there are 897 commercials and 408 industrial companies connected to

the grid. Yearly there are 10 to 12 black-outs, caused by technical problems and with an

average duration of 1-2 hours.24 In addition, costumers suffer eventual short shutdowns of the

energy supply, caused by failures of the distribution system, the poor state of wiring or the

deficient internal electrical installation. The addition of a solar PV system in this project will

have a positive impact on the energy supply in South Tarawa to increase general grid stability.

4.3.4 Health Services and Profile

In Kiribati, health services are provided by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. The

Ministry has three core departments, the Health (Curative) Services, Public Health and Nursing

Services. On South Tarawa there are several clinics and two hospitals, Tungaru Central Hospital

and Betio Hospital providing health services to the public. Amongst several duties of the Public

Health Department one of its responsibility under it Environment Health Section is to monitor

the quality of water from the well-water, rain water, PUB reticulated water, ocean water and

lagoon water. Samples of the above water sources are collected and tested once every 8 weeks

from the specified established sites. PH, Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Salinity, Turbidity,

Temperature, Chemical test (nitrate/nitrite, chlorine, lead) are tested on site or at the mini lab

while micro-biological testing (Coliform and Faecal Coliform) is done in the hospital laboratory.

Testing of water from private water sources can also be arranged.25

Over the period 2014–2016 there were 80,000 reported cases relating to deficiencies in water

supply and poor sanitation on South Tarawa. The cases include diarrhea, dysentery,

conjunctivitis, and fungal infections including ringworm. In 2016 alone, there was an excess of

10,000 reported cases across South Tarawa. Also, numerous cases of other water related

disease such as scabies, tinea corpis, tinea versicolor and worm infections have been reported

and have continued to increase over the 2014 – 2016 indicating people are using unsafe water

24 Trama Tecnoambiental TTA. 2012. Kiribati Grid Connected Solar PV Power Station Project Environmental

Impact Assessment (prepared for MPWU and WB)

25 www.health.gov.ki (visited November 2017)

http://www.health.gov.ki/


for bathing. However, the actual number of cases could be more as many cases are estimated

to go unreported.

To address this situation, a range of interventions focusing on the immediate water supply

infrastructure improvements, improvement of a water treatment system, and a continuous

awareness to encourage practice change to better hygiene and sanitation practices and

management of free roaming animals (dogs and pigs) are required. The p oje t s WASH

program will contribute to an improvement in the health of South Tarawa community.

4.3.5 Education

Education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14. I-Kiribati receive

seven years of primary education and five years of secondary education. On South Tarawa, 9

primary schools and 10 secondary schools provide primary and secondary education. Being the

capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa is the home of several tertiary institutions. In the Kiribati

Institute of Technology, (formerly known as Tarawa Technical Institute), offers courses in

technical and vocational subjects for more than 200 fulltime students, that finish their studies

with a certificate.26 The Marine Training Centre runs 18-month courses in deck, engine-room

and catering work on merchant-shipping lines; it trains about 200 students each year.27 There is

also the Kiribati Teachers College based in South Tarawa, offering training for primary teachers.

Kiribati is a partner in the regional University of the South Pacific, which has its main campus in

Suva, Fiji Islands, and a campus in Tarawa, Kiribati, with some 3,000 students, enrolled for a

wide range of courses using the university's distance learning facilities.

4.3.6 Cultural Resources and Historic sites

Ancestral shrines and te maneaba (meeting house) are the two important cultural resources on

land. Fishing traps, typically built on the reef flat on the ocean side of the island, by overlaying

reef boulders and stones, are of equal importance. None of these structures are present at the

project sites.

Tarawa was the scene of significant combat between Japanese and American forces during

WWII. The large guns and bunkers installed by Japanese forces remain in place and provide a

strident reminder of the events in the 1940s. Unexploded ordinance (UXO) is a public concern

as several UXO have been found buried underground at several locations on South Tarawa (i.e.

Betio).

26 http://kit.edu.ki/about.html

27 http://www.mtc-tarawa.edu.ki


5. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES

The potential environmental and social impacts of the proposed project have been assessed in

line with the C““ a d de elop e t pa t e s safeguard requirements, including assessment of

the possible benefits and impacts with regards to (i) sustainable natural resource management;

(ii) pollution prevention and abatement; (iii) health and safety; and (iv) climate change. Like

previous ADB initiatives that improved water and sanitation services in South Tarawa, the

project will generate significant environmental and health benefits that more than outweigh

the adverse environmental impacts incurred during construction.

The project will rehabilitate existing water and electrical infrastructure, in an environmental

setting where habitat has been highly modified by the built environment, and the densely

populated community.

The following sections outline the potential negative impacts and risks associated with the main

project works:

• Sub-project 1: Construction and operation of a Salt Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO)

water plant

• Sub-project 2: Rehabilitation of water supply infrastructure

• Sub-project 3: Construction and operation of a Photo-Voltaic (PV) power system

5.1 Design and Pre-construction phase

In addition to the identification of risks and impacts and required mitigations, during pre-

construction, measures to facilitate compliance with environmental regulations and provide

environmental and social protection and monitor the same will be implemented.

Environmentally responsible procurement. Proper implementation will promote continuously

improving environmental protection activities during design, construction, and operation to

prevent, reduce, or mitigate adverse impacts. Inclusion of mitigation measures in contract

documents for all subprojects, and assurance that the Project Management Unit (PMU) has

adequate capacity to implement the ESMP, including training of contractor personnel in the

requirements of the ESMP, will eliminate or minimize anticipated impacts. The ESMP will

require updating following the detailed design phase.

Management measures include:

• All land acquisition and resettlement issues to be resolved following the

requirements of the social safeguard due diligence reports. Provisions for land

access and compensation mechanisms to clearing of fruit bearing trees, vegetables


and if permanent structures are damaged or removed should be addressed

adequately.

• All subprojects will pass through the CSS. The EIA report will be prepared on behalf

of the executing agency and reviewed by the ECD within MELAD and the

development partners.

• Obtaining plans from the PUB showing the locations of utilities and infrastructure

(power, telecom, other) and consultation with residents and/or landowners on the

relocation of utilities prior to commencing excavation operations.

• The project ESMP will be updated based on the detail design and integrated into the

bidding documents.

• The contractor will designate a full-time experienced/qualified Environment Officer

to prepare the construction ESMP (CESMP) and implement all environmental

management and mitigations measures.

Appropriate environmental mitigation and monitoring measures are included in the

environmental and social management plan (ESMP). The proposed environmental mitigation

measures will form part of the design documents for the project and will be adequately

budgeted and included in the contracts for procurement of goods and services. All contractors

and subcontractors will be required to follow the project ESMP.

Contract tender documents will direct the contractor to provide qualified staff for

environmental, safety and health, management and monitoring, to prepare and implement the

CESMP.

Prior to commencement of any works, the CESMP will be prepared by the contractor, following

the project ESMP, and providing details related to their construction methodologies (including

site specific plans and drawings and sub-plans as required). The CESMP will be reviewed and

cleared by the PMU and development partners. The CESMP will address erosion and

sedimentation control (for land based, and marine works), health and safety, waste and

materials management (for land based, and marine works), control plans for traffic, noise, and

dust. The CESMP will also address all conditions on the environmental license as issued by ECD.

5.1.1 Impacts on Physical Environment

These impacts relate to topography, geology, and soils impacts and consideration of climate

change requirements during the design and pre-construction stage.

Climate change/natural hazard considerations. Planning for the potential impacts of climate

variability, and natural hazards, will help to mitigate against potential impacts which may

include sea water inundation resulting in failure of water and electrical systems infrastructure,


and subsequent loss of public water supply. The risks that are associated with climate change

and variability are related to sea level rise, sea surge risks, temperature rise, decreases in

rainfall (whether long term or in terms of extreme dry years or season) and storm

severity. The main vulnerabilities faced by the people of Tarawa can be summarized as:

• Sea-level rise which exacerbates the severity of sea surges, increased rates of

coastal erosion and heightened risks to public and private infrastructure;

• More intense and more frequent storms which increase risks of damage from sea

surges, high winds and strong inundation on public and private infrastructure; and

• More frequent and longer periods of drought: which cause both intense short term

difficulty and, of greater concern, long term damage to the freshwater lenses that

exist beneath the islets.

In addition, the energy consumption from the desalination facility presents a risk to enhancing

climate change through increased energy consumption and resulting increased greenhouse gas

emissions.

Mitigation measures include:

• Planning new infrastructure at a suitable elevation above the current high tide level

(utilizing accurate topographic survey);

• Ensuring new infrastructure is designed to withstand extreme weather events, such

as sea water inundation;

• Selection of renewable system (solar PV) in the design of power supply to support

desalination facility; and

• Design system to provide treated, safe water to reduce the requirement for

consumers to boil water for treatment using green-house gas emitting heating

sources.

Survey and clearance of UXO. Prior to commencement of any construction activities, a survey

for UXO will be undertaken. The TOR for the survey (and disposal) will be prepared by the

supervision consultant supporting the PMU. Should UXO be identified, these will be disposed of

following established government and police protocols and procedure.

Specific sub-project impacts. Subproject 1 will include boring and construction of 12 wells, in

phases, for water plant feed water has the potential to contaminate the fresh water lens with

high saline water. Adequate planning for well-depths below the freshwater lens, and proper

procedures for well-casing installation, will prevent lens contamination. Monitoring of

freshwater lens salinity levels, near the well-field should be planned for. Erosion and

sedimentation control plans should be developed for the plant site and for pipeline


construction alignment to the pump station, to avoid impacts to marine waters. For sub-project

2, erosion and sedimentation control plans should be developed for the alignment of water

reticulation to be rehabilitated, and water storage tanks sites, to avoid impact to terrestrial

habitat and marine waters.

5.1.2 Impacts on Ecological Environment

Terrestrial Ecology. As stated above, land-based earthworks for the subprojects, will not have

significant impacts on the existing topography, geology, and soils, or significant terrestrial

habitat. The project design proposes that site works will be in the same footprint as the existing

water, and electrical infrastructure. The terrestrial ecology has been extensively modified by

the built environment, and introduced species, in all areas. There are no protected sites in the

project area.

Marine Ecology. Project design for the discharge of brine from the SWRO plant via the newly

constructed wastewater outfall pipeline at Betio, considered the recommendations of the

marine benthic habitat surveys, of the existing and proposed wastewater outfall pipelines,

conducted for the prior wastewater improvements project. The surveys determined that overall

reef health is impacted by sedimentation, macroalgae cover, and lack of suitable substrate for

coral recruitment.

Specific sub-project impacts. For sub-project 1, the brine discharge as per sewer outfall

pipeline route will follow the recommended alignment to minimize impacts to the lagoon

marine ecology.28 For sub-project 2, erosion and sedimentation control plans should be

developed for the alignment of water reticulation to be rehabilitated, and water storage tanks

sites, considering the vicinity of works near marine waters. For sub-project 3, vegetation

clearing should be kept to the minimum required for PV plant construction and operation, to

avoid additional impact to terrestrial habitat.

5.1.3 Impacts on Socio-Economic Environment

Land access. There are two main types of land tenure in Kiribati – private ownership and state

ownership. 95% of land is under traditional private ownership, while 5% is State-owned. The

project is expected to have minimal involuntary resettlement (IR) impacts. There is no

requirement for an Indigenous Peoples Plan as the majority (98%) of the South Tarawa

population is indigenous to the country. The desalination plant will be constructed on

government long-term lease land, leased until 2040. In all cases government land has been

28 Fellenius,K. and Hess,D.2015. Benthic morphology and marine life assessment for the siting of ocean outfalls on South

Tarawa. STSISP, MPWU Kiribati


sought for location of the storage tanks and booster pump stations. Where government land

was not available, private lands have been identified as potential sites for some of the storage

tanks and booster pumps. No relocation of housing or settlements or income restoration will

be required.

Planning for operations. The building contractor should be obligated to provide a relevant

training program to the operators. The training will ensure that the infrastructure is operated

according to the intended safe procedure, and that preventive and corrective maintenances are

undertaken appropriately.

Health and safety. The CESMP will include a health and safety plan which will address both

worker and community health and safety risks. Workers sanitation at worksites and any

facilities accommodating workers has to be accounted for prior mobilization to ensure that

no raw sewage is released directly into the soil or into lagoon or coastal water. These

arrangements will be either (i) arrangements with nearby homes or institutions that are

connected to the sewer system or (ii) use of portable toilets which are emptied daily into

manholes within the sewer system.

Negotiating working areas. Available space on South Tarawa is limited and laydown sites

to store containerized building materials may be required outside the project sites. In such

event, the use of GOK-leased land or state land should be arranged, or negotiation with

land owners if private land is to be utilized. Separate approval may be required by the ECD

and needs to be sorted and cleared prior usage of any land.

5.2 Construction Phase

5.2.1 Impacts on Physical Environment

Impacts associated with brine disposal pipe, permeate delivery and upgrading of the

reticulated system. The installation of pipeline requires excavation work and may

potentially affect underground power cables, tar sealed main road, concrete private

driveways, permanent structures and living plants.

Impacts will be mitigated by:

• Contractor to appoint experienced site supervisor for each works site;

• Contractor to undertake a condition survey prior to any works and planning works

to avoid damage to property and plant to the extent practicable. At the start of

works the contract supervisor will file a checklist confirming that necessary pre-

planning was completed;


• Refurbishing of road and disturbed ground to original status. Apart from the road,

disturbed ground resulting from earth works will be refilled, vegetation and trees

removed along the trenching route will be replaced where necessary.

Impacts associated with hazardous materials. Fuels, paints and lubricants will be used,

which pose a soil contamination risk if leaked or spilled accidentally. Existing asbestos

concrete pipelines may be encountered during excavation works and pose a hazard to

human health.

• All fuels or other potentially hazardous materials will be stored at secure and

managed sites (bunded and concreted floor and walls), identified by the contractor

and approved by the PMU/supervision consultant;

• Fuel and oil to be stored in bunded and concreted areas with 110% capacity.

• All hazardous chemicals will be clearly labelled;

• Spill kit, appropriate to the hazardous materials being used, to be kept on-site and

workers to be trained in its deployment;

• Regular checks for leaking oil or fuel from machinery;

• Ensuring that any leaks are promptly repaired and/or parts replaced within two

days as part of maintenance of vehicles and equipment to international standards;

• Any surplus hazardous materials shall be removed from the island when the

contractor demobilizes. The co t a to s o kshop ill ha e clearly marked waste

disposal bins to store filters, rags and waste oil, for disposal at the landfills; and

• All asbestos concrete pipe disposal will be supervised by a competent person,

trained in asbestos abatement. Pipe sections will be wrapped and marked with the

cautionary statement Da ge Asbestos-Containing Material . The pipe sections

will be buried at an authorized location.

Climate change/natural hazard considerations. Construction vehicles, equipment, and

generators will emit greenhouse gases during the period of construction but will not be a

significant contributor to overall greenhouse gases. Construction vehicles, equipment, and

generators will be serviced regularly to reduce emissions. Furthermore, locating construction

plant and equipment inland away from the shoreline is required to minimise risk of loss or

damage from ocean inundation.

Need for aggregate and construction materials. The pipes that are associated with the

desalination plant will be prefabricated and purchased by the project and will be either

stainless steel or plastic, to be decided by the contractor. However, the plant will require

some concrete for the pouring of a facility based and the plinth needed for all the reverse

osmosis skids.


Depe di g o the desig spe ifi atio a d o t a to s de isio the lo al agg egates if required can be sourced from Te Atinimarawa Company Limited, the GOK aggregate

company. Imported aggregated if needed will require clearance from the Agriculture

quarantine office.

No additional mining for aggregate will be conducted by the project.

Solid waste management. The contractor is required to minimize the environmental impact of

its work by adopting respectful waste management behavior and fulfilling national norms and

regulations. The Contractor is required to:

• Prepare a solid waste management plan as part of the CESMP;

• Separate and store wastes with respect for health and environment. Identify any

waste that can be reused or recycled;

• Contain all stored wastes in secure receptacles within construction sites and the

compound, avoiding littering and runoff;

• No waste is to be burned;

• Workers will be advised that littering will not be permitted. Waste generated

construction activities at sites will be cleared and disposed of as per the above;

• Use recycled or renewable building materials (e.g. timber) where possible; and

• Optimize and reduce waste production. Avoid mix of different waste and minimize

waste disposal into the approved dumping area or landfill.


Impacts associated with upgrading of outfall for disposal of brine. The existing sewage

outfall pipeline will be utilized for brine disposal, therefore no impacts to the coral reef,

fish, and other marine fauna and flora are anticipated from the Project construction phase.

Likewise upgrading the sewage system at the outfall pump station from gravity feed to a

pressurized system will pose no effect on the biological environment around the pumping

station as there are no fruit bearing trees on the site. However, overflow and spillage of

raw sewage from the sump at the outfall pump station could occur during the upgrading

work when the brine pipeline is linked with the sewage outfall pipe. This can be minimized

by:

• Accounting for the likely overflow and spillage problems in the CESMP; and

• Having qualified personnel on site to oversee the upgrading work.

Impacts associated with construction of SWRO plant, Solar PV system and excavation

work. While there are no trees at the proposed location for the desalination plant, some

trees will be affected when installing the solar PV system at that site. A few coconut and


pandanus trees will be cleared to make space for the PV module array. To minimize the

effect, tree clearing will be marked on survey drawing or plan and removal will be

restricted to the identified trees/vegetation. All trees that are affected will be

compensated for in accordance with local policy.

Earthworks associated with the project have the potential to result in increased sediment

runoff entering the coastal marine environment, impacting marine water quality. Earthworks

will be required for the construction of the water plant and rehabilitation and replacement of

pipeline sections for water systems. Minor earthworks will be associated with the PV electrical

system improvements, such as possible power pole replacement.

Water quality impacts from earthworks can be mitigated as follows:

• Use of sediment retention fencing, berms, and sandbags around excavations to

restrict the release of sediment from the construction site;

• Use of siltation curtains to contain the site area around trenching works on the

near shore reef to prevent the release of sediment onto the surrounding reef area;

• Immediately re-vegetate and/or stabilize exposed surfaces and stockpiles of

excavated materials; and

• Monitor water quality for near shore waters adjacent to land base earthworks

Terrestrial ecology. The majority South Tarawa community area is built environment, which has

displaced any former natural habitat. Observed fauna consists mainly of introduced species

such as dogs, cats, and rats. Resident and migratory shorebirds are common along the fringing

reef, though typically found away from the residential areas. No surface water resources, or

associated flora and fauna, exist on South Tarawa. Construction noise and dust will not have

impact on any terrestrial habitat of value, and no mitigation is necessary. Clearing planting sites

may cause permanent or temporary disturbances to vegetation. While no known protected

flora species have been identified on the project sites, disturbance of vegetation should be

minimized.

The project will not introduce any alien species that are not yet established in the region of the

Project or promote species that are known to be invasive in the given environments. All vessels

carrying equipment and materials to the Project will be subject to inspection by agriculture

quarantine inspectors, and may be refused entry into Kiribati if they are known or suspected of

being infected or infested with disease or pests.

Mitigation measures include:

• Prohibition of burning vegetation and residual bushes and grasses when clearing

planting sites;


• Only cutting flora which are a direct obstacle to project infrastructure works; and

• All vessels carrying equipment and materials for the project will be subject to

inspection by agriculture quarantine inspectors.

Ecological impacts associated with spillage of hazard materials. The underground

freshwater lens at the project sites can be contaminated from fuel and lubricants leakages.

The effect can be mitigated by:

• Regular checks for leaking oil or fuel from machinery;

• Ensuring that any leaks are promptly repaired and/or parts replaced within two

days as part of maintenance of vehicles and equipment to international standards;

and

• Contractor will implement the measures identified to mitigate the impacts from

storage and spillage of hazardous substances and other chemicals and materials.

5.2.3 Impacts on Socio-Economic Environment

Materials and plant haulage. The haulage of plant and materials to and from works sites and

need to relocate services/utilities (and therefore dig up roads and accessways) will create

temporary traffic disruptions and pose a risk to pedestrian safety. These risks will be mitigated

by:

• Contractor to prepare a traffic management plan as part of the CESMP; and

• Advance notification (through radio and newspaper) to advise road closures,

detours and the like to facilitate work activities.

Noise. Noise will be generated from all constructions sites (desalination plant, upgraded

water supply infrastructure, solar PV) during site preparation, delivery, trenching, and work

procedures that are required for each component such as metal works, welding, and

general carpentry work. Impacts can be mitigated by:

• Restricting the working hours to between 0800 hrs and 1700 hrs from Monday to

Friday, or Saturday if there is a need to work on the weekend, this is important,

especially in areas where residential dwellings are located adjacent to the

construction area, as in the desalination construction area and the upgraded water

supply infrastructure;

• Use of vehicles, plant and equipment, that comply with international standards for

construction equipment noise emission, such as Part 204 of US Federal Regulations-

Noise Emission Standards for Construction Equipment (40 CFR 204)). Verification of

such compliance from the country of origin is required;


• The CE“MP ill i lude easu es to eet the e ui e e ts of the WB s Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines (EHSG); and

• Maintenance repair should also be routinely performed during the construction

phase and making the record available whenever needed to the concerned

authority.

Dust generation and nuisance. Dust will be generated during the hauling, delivery,

excavation operations, trench refilling and compaction works. This can be mitigated by:

• Daily spraying/wetting of the access roads, sites (including excavated trenches for

water supply network upgrades) material and stockpiles;

• Locations for stockpiles of materials or waste materials will be approved by the

PMU/supervision consultant and by the ECD if required;

• Loose materials hauled to/from sites will be secured with a tarpaulin to prevent

debris;

• Ensure emissions are minimal through standardized site management such as dust

watering or stockpile covers;

• Removal of spoil to stockpile sites or use as refill material; and

• Contractor will provide equipment that conforms to international emission

standards, verified by emission test certificates and maintenance records, as in the

case of control of black smoke emissions.

To ensure that emissions from diesel generators, vehicles and other machinery are kept

within acceptable measures, the Contractor will be required to provide equipment that

conforms to international emission standards, verified by emission test certificates and

maintenance records, as in the case of control of noise emissions.

Social conflict. Social conflict between expatriate and local workers could arise due to cultural

differences. It is essential that expatriates are provided with information on Kiribati culture,

including dressing code, sexually transmitted diseases, and other essential social factors. A

code of conduct will be agreed between the contractor and the community (facilitated by

PMU/supervision consultant). The agreed code of conduct will be applied at all times. The

code of conduct will cover:

• How and when information will be communicated between the contractor and the

community;

• Schedule of activities and works (days and times) and if night-time or Sunday work

will be required;

• Conduct of the building and asset condition survey;

• Negotiations for access to land for temporary works, laydown areas and the like;


• Conduct and behavior while working in community, villages or close to churches or

schools etc;

• Identification of community leaders and appropriate ways to address them;

• Appropriate ways to address women;

• Avoidance of fraternization of workers with local people;

• Avoidance of use of inappropriate language or cursing when working close to

residences and shops;

• No differences in wages paid to men and women for similar work;

• No use of trafficked or child labor;

• Prohibitions on use of illegal drugs and alcohol and sanctions to be imposed;

• Implementation of the health and safety plan (including communicable diseases

awareness and prevention training); and

• Implementation of the grievance redress mechanism (GRM) and process for

resolving conflicts between workers and community members.

Occupational and community health and safety. All health and safety requirements will

comply with the EHSG. Work on the desalination plant, upgrade of water supply

infrastructure and installation of the Solar PV system will pose some potential hazards to

both workers and the public, resulting from construction works, excavation, vehicle

movements and the use of electrical power. The contractor will be required to:

• Prepare health and safety plan, complying with the EHSG, as part of CESMP;

• Works sites and contra to s offi e a d o pou d to e se u el fe ed a d a ess only permitted to workers and authorized people;

• For i-Kiribati workers, comply with Kiribati laws on employment and health and

safety and observe Kiribati statutory holidays;

• Under no circumstances, allow hild e to e te the o ks sites, o t a to s offi e and compound;

• Provide sufficient light coverage during night construction. Any light used during

night construction is not to affect neighboring residences;

• Designate a full-time, experienced/qualified Health and Safety Officer within

o t a to s staff; • Allocate responsibility for safety inspections to Health and Safety Officer;

• Regularly training of workers in safety precautions, for themselves and others and

for implementing emergency procedures;

• Engage an approved service provider to deliver a communicable diseases

awareness and prevention program including sexually transmitted infections (STI)


and HIV/AIDS. The program will be conducted regularly for works and the

community;

• Provide protective clothing and equipment (PPE) to workers appropriate to the

activities they undertake (including any activities at height);

• Ensure that vehicle and equipment operators are properly licensed and trained;

• Arrange for provision of first aid kits in all vehicles and facilities with trained staff

o all at the o t a to s offi e o o pou d/ o ks a d;

• Illegal drugs and alcohol will not be permitted on any works site and any worker

intoxicated while at work will be dismissed;

• Establish emergency and medical evacuation procedures and provide time for

workers to undertake training and drills in the procedures;

• Provide regular safety checks of vehicles and equipment;

• Identify hazard zones and provision of hazard warning signs at the construction

sites;

• Provide temporary fencing/barriers around potential hazards such as pipe trenches

and any excavations 1m or deeper to ensure there is no hazard to the workers or

public;

• Maintain a register of incidents and accidents detailing date, circumstances,

severity, action taken at the time or subsequently, outcomes and

actions/measures to prevent future incidents/accidents; and

• Implement the relevant elements of the GRM and maintain a complaints/grievance

registry.

• Munitions and explosives and UXO are a concern to the public and workers, given

the war history of South Tarawa. The following procedure will be put in place by

the contractor: The construction sites will be scanned by a qualified

munitions/explosives/UXO field support team to evaluate the presence of

munitions/explosives and determine the appropriate level of munitions/explosives

support requirements. UXO monitoring would be performed concurrent with

ongoing construction works. The primary method of support would be provided by

a UXO Technician in the field during construction works who would scan ahead of

the clearing/grubbing and excavations to identify areas of avoidance containing

potential munitions/explosives. Supervisors will conduct a munitions/explosives

awareness safety briefing for all construction personnel.

• All asbestos concrete pipe disposal will be supervised by a competent person,

trained in asbestos abatement. Pipe sections will be wrapped and marked with the

autio a state e t Da ge As estos-Containing Material. The pipe sections will

be buried at an authorized location.


Impact on underground service utilities and other disruptions. During construction, service

outages may be necessary or occur due to accidental damage of underground service utilities

and disruptions to the public due to impacts to local traffic. Whilst accidental damage cannot

be entirely controlled the risk can be mitigated by ensuring the contractor has access to all

information from PUB on underground service locations. Furthermore, any planned

interruptions where services are required to be relocated or temporarily stopped during

construction for safety of workers, consultation of local residents is required prior to

commencing works. The contractor must also put in place measures to control traffic

movement to avoid congestion.

Impacts associated with encroaching onto private property and permanent use of site .

Work on upgrading the reticulated water supply network will take place within the existing

alignments and will not therefore encroach significantly on private property, however,

excavation work and the installation of components as well as vehicle movements, present

some risk where access is restricted. The locations of permanent ground water tanks could

also encroach on private properties. These risks will be mitigated by

• Consultation with and written approval from land owners for access when intrusion

on to private properties is inevitable; and

• Formulation of lease agreements in cases where the sites are not leased by

Government.

5.3 Operation Impacts

5.3.1 Impact on Physical Environment

Effect of greenhouse gas emissions. Desalination plants are energy intensive process and

hence contribute to global warming due to the use of fossil fuel that drives the system. The

generators running on diesel fuel will still be utilized in the proposed desalination plants,

however to compensate for the energy used, a solar PV system will be installed, for

supplemental electrical power. The use of solar PV system will reduce dependence on fossil fuel

and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. Furthermore, provision of safe,

treated water to customers also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the

requirement for boiling water using greenhouse gas emitting fuels as the energy source.

Generated waste disposal. The operator of the desalination facility is required to minimize the

environmental impact of its work by adopting respectful waste management behavior and

fulfilling national norms and regulations. Spent filter cartridge and other solid wastes from the

desalination plant will be disposed at the Betio landfill through routine collection by the Betio

Town Council or by PUB whenever needed. On-site waste bins will be provided.



Effect of brine disposal on marine ecosystem. Brine effluent is known to have adverse effect

on benthic ecosystem. Due to higher concentration of salt levels the effluent is denser and

tends to sink to the bottom when discharged, directly impacting the benthic organisms around

the discharged location. Brine discharge, associated with SWRO plants, has been found to alter

the benthic community and reduce the diversity of organisms, including sea grass.

High salinity can also influence water turbidity, disrupting primary production through the

extinction of plankton species.29 The results of experimental exposure of corals to high salinity

varies widely depending on the species, the ambient salinity in experimental settings from

which they were collected and the exposure period. Available information suggests that salinity

tolerances in coral species depend on several factors including the speed, magnitude and

duration of salinity increase, ambient salinities before the change, individual species tolerance

levels, acclimatization abilities and whether salinity changes are occurring simultaneously to

other stressors such as temperature and turbidity fluctuations.30

Beyond the demersal environment, concentrations of nutrients and particulate organic matter

progressively decrease although the brine effluent with sewage plume provides a localized zone

where salinity is higher and concentrations of nutrient from plume are higher than in

surrounding waters. Fish are known to have acute chemical sensing capabilities and are

therefore likely to perceive concentrations of soluble nutrients and higher salinity water. While

it is not possible to predict what behavioral responses to these will be, fish can avoid the plume

and saline water if it is perceived as harmful. At the depth of the outfall opening, 30 m, coral

cover was found to be less than 5%, and most of the surface is comprised of sand and rock

outcrop. No seagrass habitat is present.31

Under the South Tarawa Improvement Sector Project the upgrading work on the Betio sewage

outfall will be completed mid-2018. Part of the upgrading is the addition of 12 diffuser ports at

30 m depth. The ports will alter the way in which the effluent is introduced into the ocean

water and level of dilution. The relevant changes include: (i) more rapid mixing of effluent from

the outfall with seawater, and (ii) introduction of effluent from the sewer systems at depth so

29 Munke, Frank: Ecological and economic analysis of seawater desalination plants - Diploma Thesis. Matri. No.:

1157140 Karlsruhe, April 2008

30 RPS Environment & Planning Pty Ltd. 2009. Effects of a Desalination Plant Discharge on the Marine

Environment of Barrow Islands. WA, Australia. Report # N09504. 31 Fellenius,K. and Hess,D.2015. Benthic morphology and marine life assessment for the siting of ocean outfalls on

South Tarawa. STSISP, MPWU Kiribati


there is lower levels of nutrients and organic matter close to the surface that will prompt

eutrophication.

Marine water quality. The proposed outfall discharge, at 30m depth, will provide for rapid

dilution of effluent with ocean water, immediately on release and incrementally as the effluent

disperses in the form of an expanding plume. The Project s use of the e outfall pipeli e fo brine discharge is not expected to impact coastal marine water quality, especially in the near

shore.

The dilution of effluent will be maximized by ensuring that release occurs at a depth of 30

meters beneath the water surface (compared to the previous situation where release of

sewage occurs near the surface, within the intertidal zone), the fitting of a diffuser at the outfall

opening which causes effluent to be released in a series of small jets, increases near field

dilution. Salinity testing of marine waters in proximity to the brine outfall discharge could

define the influence of the brine discharge, and distance required for waters to reach ambient

levels.

Collection, dilution and dispersal of discharge from RO desalination plant. Effluent from

the desalination plant is a combination of brine representing about 99% of the effluent,

while the rest is backwash water, maturation rinse, and the neutralised waste from the

chemical cleaning process. The waste brine will be combined with the sewage effluent

immediate after the outfall pump station prior to discharging. There is no sewage treatment

facility at the pump station so the brine will not interfere with any biological treatment process

as the sewage is raw. The combined effluent will exhibit an estimated salinity greater than

seawater, thus making the effluent discharged at the Betio outfall denser than the ambient

seawater level. The effect of brine and associated sewage plume on the marine environment

depends on the dilution factors attained when discharged.

Dilution of the waste discharge has been measured at desalination plants in the Canary

Islands32 and north-west Mediterranean Spain.33 The volume of waste brine from the Canary

Islands is 17,000 m3 per day and 75,000 m3 per day for the latter. Samples taken 20 m from the

Canary Island outfalls show rapid near-field dilution of waste brine to near ambient levels. A

similar investigation of dilution rates was completed at a RO plant in the north-west

Mediterranean. That study also found rapid dilution of brine with ambient salinity achieved at

32 Talavera,J.L.P. & Ruiz, J.J.Q. 2001. Identification of the mixing process in brine discharges carried out in

Barranco del Toro Beach, South Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Desalination, 139, 277 – 286

33 Raventos, N., Macpherson, E. & Garcia-Rubies, A. 2006. Effect of brine discharge from a desalination plant on

macrobenthic communities in the NW Mediterranean. Marine Environmental Research, 62, 1-14.


10 m from the outlets. For the latter, salinity level decline rapidly close to the outfall. The

measurement of salinity level from the above outfalls, in general, suggested that elevated

salinity declines rapidly close to the outfall even where simple diffusers are employed.34

The brine waste from the proposed SWRO plant is predicted at 7,030 m3 per day and peak

operation at 9,681 m3 per day in future operation, however it is expected that there will be very

rapid dilution due to the small volume of output and use of diffusers. The United States

Environmental Protection Agency effluent plume model UM3 was run to define plume

movement and decay in relation to high salinity effluent, for the design of this sewer outfall.

The performance of the model has been tested by comparing model predictions against actual

measurements using Laser Induced Fluorescence, which makes three dimensional

measurements of contaminant concentrations. UM3 was found to provide reliable estimates

for plume movement, as well as near and far field dilution.35 A further feature of UM3 is that it

supports the analysis of different levels of salinity, which is important for this situation. Finally,

the model enabled the estimation of effluent dilution both immediately on release (near field)

and at distance (far field). The following parameters (Table 5-1) were used in the UM3 model.

Table 5-1 Model parameters

Parameter Value Justification

Port Diameter 100mm Diameter of each diffuser port

Number of ports 12 Betio outfall has 12 diffuser ports elevated at 30

degree angle.

Depth of outfall 30m Maximum depth of end of diffuser pipe

Current speed 0.2m/s Current speed at Betio outfall at 30m, 25m and 15m

according to 2015 SMEC study ranges between 0.2

m/s to 1m/s. Lowest velocity is used. Even in calm

water, current speed at the outfall is within that range

due to tidal movement which is further influenced by

the adjacent ship channel.

Effluent discharge rate Value for producing

6,000 m3 is used

Based on projected combined discharge from Betio

sewerage system

Concentration of fecal

coliform

100,000 MPN/ 100 mL Based on tests undertaken for preparation of the

SAPHE project and used in the STSISP project

34 RPS Environment & Planning Pty Ltd. 2009. Effects of a Desalination Plant Discharge on the Marine

Environment of Barrow Islands. WA, Australia. Report # N09504.

35 Philip JW, Roberts PJ and Tian X (2004). New experimental techniques for validation of marine discharge

models. Environmental Modelling & Software 19 (7-8): 691-699.


Parameter Value Justification

Effluent Salinity

Value for producing

6,000 m3 is used

The salinity level at maximum capacity of Desalination

plant is used

Ambient seawater

salinity

35 ppt Typical value for seawater

Effluent temperature 30oC Assumed

Ambient seawater

temperature

29oC Measured temperature of seawater at 30m depth

Based on the parameters used an indication of plume elevation and dilution are shown in

Figure 5-1. A dilution factor of about 100 is attained 6 meters from the point of discharge when

the current velocity used in the UM3 model is 0.2m/s. The point of discharge of effluent at

Betio outfall is a well mix area prone to wave surge and currents providing a good environment

for diluting the high salinity effluent.

Figure 5-1 Plume elevation profile and dilution

Other wastes from the desalination plant. The other wastes to be considered from the

desalination plant include spent filters and general office wastes. A provision of appropriate

waste bins and regular disposal at the Betio is required.

Risk associated with the failure of the desalination plant. Failure of the desalination plant,

especially the desalination membranes or post treatment system, will result in the discharge of

seawater and chemicals entering the water distribution system. Also, the failure of the brine

disposal transfer pipeline will affect the local salinity of the aquifer in the area directly affecting

the local plants especially fruit bearing plants.


The failure of chlorination system can also affect the quality of reticulated water. Water leakage

is another long-term problem that is often associated with the water supply system on South

Tarawa. These risks can be reduced with regular inspection and maintenance.

Risks of failure can also be reduced if proper protection of the installations are adopted to avoid

accidents, and the damaging, or unauthorized removal of the technical equipment. It is

proposed that unauthorized access to the RO plant, PV modules structures, and exposed water

supply infrastructures is prohibited by means of fences with lockable gates, lockable manholes

for underground water valves, and that visible signs indicating danger and no-go-areas are

displayed visibly to the public.

Impacts associated with lack of water quality test. The quality of water produced from the

desalination plant and extracted from the water reserve still must be routinely tested for

consumption suitability, to assure public health. In Kiribati, the salinity of the drinking water

should not exceed 600 mg/L and should be free of pathogens as per the World Health

Organisation guideline for pathogens36 that is normally adopted as a national guideline.

Samples from all storage tanks should be taken monthly for testing. PUB should also liaise

regularly with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services on their routine water sampling and

testing program to ensure that the results are shared. Where negative results are attained, PUB

should promptly provide remedy to rectify the salinity of the reticulated water. Further, the

public should be promptly informed to boil water when the chlorination system fails and the

presence of pathogen is detected.

5.3.3 Impacts on Socio-economic Environment

Risk associated with solid/waste disposal. Although the project will improve the supply of

water to the public, contamination of ground freshwater lens will persist and worsen overtime

if open defecating practices, animals (dogs and pigs) are still allowed to roam around, and

illegal rubbish dumping. The WASH community consultation program incorporated in the

project to encourage community participation in solving the problem will assist to address and

p o ide e ed to this o ti ui g a d u ge t issue du i g a d e o d the p oje t s life.

Health and safety risks associated with mishandling of chemicals. Anti-scaling agents and

cleaning chemicals will be used in the desalination plant and chlorine gas will be used to treat

water from the Bonriki water reserve and desalination plant. Although the chemicals to be used

are applied in small doses when applied into the system proper, handling should be practiced to

36 WHO. 2008. Drinking Water Guideline - 3rd Edition (incorporating the first and second addenda, Vol 1

Recommendations). Geneva.


minimize health risks to workers and the public. Hazardous chemicals should be adequately

labelled, stored safely and handling procedures should be visibly displayed at appropriate

locations. Staff should be trained on how the chemicals are handled safely, specifically chlorine

gas cylinders.

Noise impact. Noise associated with the high-pressure pump in the desalination plant will be a

nuisance to nearby residence if noise is not contained within the plant. Noise reduction or

acoustic packages is recommended and should be installed to reduce noise emitted from the

plant. Workers will be required to wear proper hearing protection.

5.4 Positive Impact on Health

The additional clean water from the desalination plan and rehabilitated water infrastructure

proposed in this project will ensure that the wider community have access to safer water and

that the recommended 50 liters per person benchmark for ensuring low levels of health

concern is achieved, limiting negative health issues that are related to poor water quality and

insufficient quantity. Improvement in health of individuals will result in improved economic

situation through being more productive. This can also lead to a wider economic benefit.

However, achieving that level will be impractical unless there is a change in attitude of people

toward good sanitation practices, and that the existing sanitation infrastructure is adequately

improved throughout the island. The WASH Awareness Program along with sanitation

improvement projects such as STSISP will contribute towards improvement to that end.

5.5 Cumulative Effects

The effect of this proposed project depends on the dilution of brine water discharge. The

predicted result from the UM3 model indicates suitable dilution is attainable at the lowest

current velocity noted in the area.

There will be no cumulative effect on the local aquifer at the desalination project site due to

the use of seawater extracted from below the freshwater lens.

Training on the operation and maintenance of the systems installed will also add to the

technical capacity of PUB.

The use of the PV solar system in this project in combination with the previously installed PV

solar system under the Kiribati Grid Connected PV Solar Power Station Project will increase the

capacity of green energy. This could lessen the overall demand for fossil fuel over time thus

increasing the probability of reducing tariff costs.


6. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES

6.1 Alternative to the SWRO

The alternative supplementary sources of water were assessed in the Tarawa Water Master

Plan 2010-203037 report and were also addressed in the environmental assessment that

accompanied the South Tarawa Water Supply Options Assessment Desalination Feasibility

Study.38 The water sources included: bulk importation by ship, constructed rainwater

catchment, recycling, the construction of island for groundwater collection and pumping, and

construction of a SWRO water plant. The Master Plan assessment concluded the following:

• Bulk importation is extremely expensive and might only be suitable to emergency

only,

• Rainwater catchment is constrained by vulnerability to prolonged drought,

shortage of space, high costs, and difficulties with keeping the water free of

contamination.

• The scope of water recycling is limited as extensive recycling of water sourced from

household wells already occurs throughout Tarawa.

• The construction of an island for ground water collection is capital intensive and

would pose several environmental problems associated with the substantial

amount of aggregates needed to create such an island

• The saltwater reverse osmosis option was adopted as the most economical means

to argument water supply on South Tarawa, provided it can be effectively

maintained throughout 10 years and more. The system can be containerized and

hence tested for workability according to design preference and performance

before shipment, located in area of highest demand and direct connection to the

existing water supply network, limited land area requirement, producing high

quality of water, and that the system can incorporate an energy recovery system

that reduces the amount of energy used by the plant.

6.2 Alternative Location of Desalination Plant and Brine Disposal

Twelve different sites (Table 6-1 and Appendix 3) were proposed and considered for the

location of the desalination plant. The lands with private ownership (sites 1 and 2) were

37 White, I. 2010. Tarawa Water Master Plan 2010 – 2030. GOK. 38 GOK & ADB. South Tarawa Desalination Plants Environment Assessment in Fraser Thomas Partners. 2012.

South Tarawa Water Supply Options Assessment Desalination Feasibility Study. STSISP TA-7359(KIR). Volume 1.


eliminated due to complications with land procurement. Identification of landowners involves

court proceeding that can last for more than a year. Sites 3 and 5 are zoned as open space and

therefore are eliminated based on social sensitivity of the area. A transmission tower is located

on Site 4 and will create limitations on land area with significant impact on site layout. Also, the

site is not ideal for sourcing feed water from the bores. Site 10 at Bonriki is not ideal as major

portion of the land is swampy and not ideal for construction, bores will be remote from

desalination plant and require their own electrical power system, a new water transmission

pipeline from Bonriki will be required possibly connecting to the existing pipeline around Ambo,

and strategically it is preferable to have two water supply systems locate at either end of South

Tarawa with the SWRO plant located at Betio where population density is highest and located

furthest from the Bonriki groundwater reserve. Site 12 at Bairiki was considered as it is also

close to Betio. The site however is too sandy and there may be a need to improve soil bearing

capacity. It is located in close proximity to residential area and the church so noise level has to

be considered. Additionally, the area is prone to destructive waves during extreme westerly

bad weather event thus coastal protection structure may be needed bearing additional cost.

Site 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 are all located at Betio and mostly suitable for the desalination plant. Site

11 was eliminated as PUB will be relocated to the site. Even if the site is available the total

length of pipeline required for brine discharge is around 2.8 km running through the residential

area. Site 6, 7 and 8 are also ideal locations but extra distance is needed to run the brine

discharge to the ocean to miss the cemetery and residential buildings.

The preferred location is site 9. It is located more than 100 meters from the shoreline and

therefore will not be exposed to coastal wave events which might cause local inundation. The

ocean outfall pump station that can provide a means of brine disposal is located across the

road, saving approximately more than US$2 million from building an independent outfall

system for the plant.


Table 6-1 Proposed sites for the Desalination Plant

Site #

Description

1 Vacant land opposite the Parliament in Ambo

2 Abaokoro on the ocean side in Ambo

3 Land to the west of the Nanikai landfill site

4 Land on the eastern end of the Bairiki causeway

5 Land in Betio, on the ocean side between the WW2 heritage artifacts and Taiwan Park

6 Land in Betio, eastern area used by Nippon Causeway contractor, Betio

7 Some of the land currently occupied by the meteorological office, Betio

8 Land currently occupied for container storage, Betio

9 Land in Betio, western area used by Nippon Causeway contractor

10 Location on Bonriki Water Reserve

11 PUB Water Yard up to and including McConnell Dowell site/MPWU Civil yard

12 Bairiki end of Dai Nippon Causeway (South) currently occupied by Ferris wheel

6.3 Alternative to Desalination Design

Seawater desalination can be achieved through reverse osmosis and distillation. Distillation is a

phase separation method whereby saline water is heated to produce water vapor, which is

then condensed to produce freshwater. The various distillation processes used to produce

potable water, including Multi-Stage-Flash, Multiple Effect, Vapor Compression, and Waste-

Heat Evaporators, all generally operate on the principle of reducing the vapor pressure of water

within the unit to permit boiling to occur at lower temperatures, without the use of additional

heat. Distillation units routinely use designs that conserve as much thermal energy as possible

by interchanging the heat of condensation and heat of vaporization within the units. The major

energy requirement in the distillation process thus becomes providing the heat for vaporization

to the feed water. However, the methods require high levels of technical input for operation

and maintenance.

Reverse osmosis, a preferred design, does not require the need to vaporize the water, but only

the use of membranes with controlled pore size, separating water from the saline solution.

6.4 Alternative to Feed-water Sources

The alternative feed water sources are the underground blackish water and the coastal

seawater. Although the underground blackish water has lower salinity and therefore reduced

energy requirements for desalination, it is polluted with variable concentration of solutes that


can lead to operational difficulties. The coastal seawater on the other hand tends to contain

variable solutes and it is a highly turbid environment requiring more efforts to filter. The feed

water obtained from bore holes below aquifer are naturally filtered and has more constant

solute and impurity levels.

6.5 Alternative to Brine Delivery Pipeline

Apart from the preferred alternative, where a simple excavation across the road is done to

provide sufficient work space to lay the transfer pipeline for brine discharge from the

desalination plant to sump at the ocean outfall pump station, construction using horizontal

directional drilling (HDD) is another option.

The HDD is used to bore through the ground and involves a GPS-guided drill head creating a

bore hole from the surface at the outlet of the desalination, to a few meters below the surface

under the road to the desire location at the pump station. The technique can maneuver the

drill head horizontally and vertically to maintain the required angle and route. The technique

will enable the placement of the borehole through the ground and feeding the brine transfer

pipe through the borehole, avoiding the need to dig trenches which would damage the newly

completed tar sealed road surface at which the pipe can be laid.

Horizontal directional drilling is done with the help of a viscous fluid known as drilling fluid. It is

a mixture of water and, usually, bentonite or polymer continuously pumped to the cutting head

or drill bit to facilitate the removal of cuttings, stabilize the bore hole, cool the cutting head,

and lubricate the passage of the product pipe. The drilling fluid is sent into a machine called a

reclaimer which removes the drill cuttings and maintains the proper viscosity of the fluid.

Drilling fluid holds the cuttings in suspension to prevent them from clogging the bore. A clogged

bore creates back pressure on the cutting head, slowing production. For environmental

compliance, the viscous fluid must be recovered for proper disposal.

The method is constrained by the availability of freshwater, a scarce resource on the island. The

use of HDD is further constrained by the fact that it works best with solid rock or sedimentary

material and that soils with cobblestone are not recommended. Most of the ground materials

on the atoll island few meters below surface is sand. The existing underground utilities are also

subjected to damage and repair may require trenching.

Excavating across the road is preferred as compacting and resurfacing of the small excavated

road surface area is only required. The existing machinery used on the road project which will

be used by Dai Nippon Construction to rehabilitate the Bairiki-Betio causeway can be used for

the work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscous

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_fluid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonite

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer


6.6 Location Alternatives for PV Solar System

The proposed site is located within the Bonriki water reserve area away from the public and

therefore there will be no social disturbance during the construction and operation of the

installment. Clearing of trees (coconut trees, pandanus trees and scrubs) will be minimal and

should be contained within the recommended area to install the PV modules and other

appurtenances required. The area is accessible by unpaved dirt road.

An alternative to this site is the use of roof tops of several, GOK and Church owned, high school

buildings. This alternative will mean that the system will be installed in small units due to the

area restrictions of the roof top adding to the complication of installation, operation and future

maintenance.

6.7 The No Project Alternative

The main implications of the no project alternative are that the current water shortage problem

will worsen in the immediate future with the status of the existing water supply system.

Additional demand on the existing water reserves will increase to the level that it will no longer

be able to sustainably supply potable water, if the current extraction rate continues, from the

freshwater lens source. The health risks that are related to insufficient and poor quality of

water will increase. Additional climate change associated increases in sea level rise and the

frequency of inundation events, may catastrophically impact the present system of infiltration

galleries, where groundwater is extracted for the current water system, as seawater inundation

would render the shallow groundwater non-potable.


7. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND GRIEVANCE REDRESS

7.1 Public Consultations

During project preparation, formal consultations took place with participants from Betio,

Bonriki and few other villages on South Tarawa. The consultation told placed at community

halls (maneabas). Meetings at each of the community halls to disclose information on the

project, including descriptions of the project, potential environmental impacts, and to seek

feedback relating to the project and any concerns, were held between 3rd and 11th February

2018. Minutes of meeting, highlighting key questions raised is included as Appendix 4 and

attendance records show a total of 190 people attended ranging from 15 people in Bairiki

through to 50 people in Bangantebure (Table 7-1).

Table 7-1: Summary of Meeting Participants

Village Date No. of participants

Male Female Total

Betio (Temanoku) 3 Feb 2018 8 10 18

Betio (Temakin) 6 Feb 2018 15 30 45

Bairiki 9 Feb 2018 9 6 15

Teaoraereke 7 Feb 2018 13 18 31

Bangantebure 11 Feb 2018 15 35 50

Bonriki 11 Feb 2018 21 10 31

Total 81 109 190

Source: STWSP PPTA consultations (2018)

7.2 Summary of Issues Raised

At the consultation meetings, the public were informed of the main components of the project

that includes installation and operation of a RO desalination plant and solar PV system, and the

upgrading of the water supply system on South Tarawa. The activities involved and proposed

locations for each component were presented including the reasons why these locations were

chosen. For the desalination plant information on the production capacity, source of feed

water, how the brine will be disposed, potential environmental impacts of brine on the marine

and terrestrial ecosystem were disclosed. Other environmental and social issues that could

arise during the construction were discussed specific issues related to (i) land access, (ii) effect

of encroaching onto private properties, (iii) excavation works and related impacts on trees and

permanent structures removals, noise, dust, increased traffic that would cause nuisance during

construction, destruction of the newly completed tar-sealed road and impacts on traffic.


Mitigation measures for each impact, and the benefits associated with the implementation of

the project, formed parts of the discussion during the consultation meeting.

Issues raised at these meetings, related to the existing situation caused by the poor state of the

water supply system, to impacts of construction, and some further concerns. Issues relating to

the state of water supply system were (i) some areas in Bonriki and along the lagoon side at

Bangatebure and Eita are not connected to the reticulated water supply system, and (ii)

freshwater extraction from Bonriki water reservoir has increased the salinity level of water in

the village and could worsen if the existing extraction rate continues.

Concerns over construction were (i) removal of trees/permanent structures and destruction of

the newly completed tar-sealed road where excavation took place to lay pipes and other

components of the reticulated water supply system, (ii) effect of drilling boreholes on the

ground stability, and (iii) labor recruitment has been observed with the on-going and past

p oje ts as ased o ho k o s ho ithout follo i g atio al guideli e fo e uit e t –

there were element of favoritisms observed by the community. It was suggested that the

number of laborers needed should be divided equally between and recruited from all

communities on South Tarawa.

Further concerns raised were (i) effects of brine disposal on the marine ecosystem, (ii) effect of

pumping feed water from boreholes on the freshwater lens, (iii) concern of cost increase for

water to compensate high production cost from the desalination plant and request that cost of

reticulated water be kept at minimum level, (iv) fabricating water pipe connections by

individuals causing damage to the reticulated system, poor repair and hence sustainability of

infrastructure.

No concern was expressed over temporary effects of construction.

The effect of brine disposal on the marine ecosystem and pumping feed water from boreholes

on the freshwater lens were also the two major issues raised during the WASH consultation

meetings for undertaken as part of other PPTA activities.39

A few suggestions were raised during the meeting and include; (i) the production of salt from

the brine wastes, (ii) Government to create a reserve fund that can be used to compensate

landowners for having their land disturbed during the excavation work to lay pipelines, and (iii)

increase the compensation amount per tree (trees supporting livelihood) from the current

level.

39 South Tarawa Water Supply Project PPTA WASH Output report


7.3 Means of Addressing Issues Raised

The issues of main concern, namely the effects of the current state of the infrastructure, will be

addressed by the proposed infrastructure improvements. The water reticulation system will be

installed at Bonriki and other areas not connected to the system. Salinity level of wells in

Bonriki is anticipated to improve as water extraction will remain unchanged overtime. Concern

over the removal of vegetation and structures during construction will be limited to sites where

individual items of equipment or damaged sections of pipe need to be replaced. However, the

need to avoid the removal of or damage to trees during excavation, and replanting as required,

is included in the ESMP. Likewise, a resettlement plan is in place to address issues on removal

of structures. The effect of feed water extraction on ground stability and freshwater lens is

negligible. Effects on fish populations and coral reef were examined and was also found to be

negligible, as dilution of the brine effluent is expected over a short distance from the point of

discharge. The ESMP includes a monitoring process that will track changes the salinity level over

and adjacent to the point of discharge. Risks of damage to vegetation and salinity level of

ground freshwater lens from leaks in the brine disposal system and failure of the desalination

plant will remain, but will be mitigated by improvements in the management and

implementation of improved maintenance that is expected to result from capacity building and

maintenance support components of the project. The government is to deal with labor issues

and compensation to land owners over disturbed land. The production of salt from the brine is

an option, however chemical wastes associated with the brine would render the salt unsafe for

consumption.

7.4 Consultation and Disclosure during Implementation

During construction, the contractor will disclose information on the location and duration of

construction operations, as well as the GRM. The contractor will assign a liaison officer at each

site, who will be responsible for receiving, and acting on complaints.

The p oje t s o u i atio s a d o sultatio pla ill e updated the PMU/supe isio consultant during the design and pre-construction stage, this plan will guide the process

(means, methods, frequency, documentation etc) for all communications about the project.

Disclosure will follow the requirements of the ADB Public Communications Policy 2011 and any

laws of GOK. This will include uploading of the environmental assessment and other safeguard

due diligence documents on the ADB website and local disclosure.


7.5 Grievance Redress mechanism

Members of the public may perceive risks to themselves or their property, or have concerns

about the environmental performance of the project. These issues may relate to construction

and operation and therefore they will have rights to file complaints for the contractor, PUB and

the MISE to address promptly and sensitively, and for complaints to be made without

retribution.

During construction, the contractor will be required to comply with the Project ESMP and the

approved CESMP, including any issues relating to noise, dust nuisance, accidental damage to

property/utilities and exhaust emissions. The contractor will appoint one staff member as a

liaison officer for each worksite to receive complaints and initiate corrective action as

appropriate. This name will be made available to the Supervising Engineer. Further, the name

and contact details of the contact person for each site will be presented on a notice board at

work sites and at the MISE. The notice board will also state (i) that members of the public with

a grievance or concern have the right to register complaints (verbally or in written form) and for

appropriate and reasonable action to be taken to address any valid complaint and (ii) that

complaints can be made to the individuals concerned either verbally, in person, or in written

form and that (iii) a written response will be provided within 48 hours.

The contractor will maintain a complaints book on site, containing complaint forms that are

filled out in duplicate, with one copy provided to the complainant. The forms will record date,

time and nature of the complaint and information on the rights of the complainant and process

to be followed for assessing and acting on the complaint. Registering and resolving a complaint

will be at no cost to the complainant.

The contractor will then address the complaint and take corrective action agreed to with the

complainant. For minor complaints, such as noise or dust nuisance, or disregard of safety

procedures, immediate corrective action will be taken. For more serious issues requiring

guidance or further discussions, the contractor will raise the issue with the Supervising

Engineer. A written response will be prepared, stating either (i) the nature and duration of

action that has been taken, (ii) where an issue is not readily addressed by direct action on site,

the steps that have been taken for resolution or (iii) complaint is considered invalid, an

explanation as to why. In each case, the complainant will be informed as to their rights for the

next step. The response will be handed to the complainant or made available for them to

collect, within 48 hours of the complaint being received.

Should the complainant remain dissatisfied with the action taken or the explanation received,

the matter/complaint file will be forwarded to the Supervising Engineer.


The Supervising Engineer will have assigned a member of staff with the role of community

liaison. The name of this individual will be provided on the complaints registration form, with

contact details and notice that this individual can be approached for follow up in respect of the

complaint and that this may be done in person, by phone or in written form.

The Supervising Engineer will consult with MISE and on their behalf review the complaint and

the response of the contractor, then make a decision to be referred to the complainant within a

a i u of t o eeks. If the o plai a t e ai s dissatisfied ith the “upe isi g E gi ee s de isio , the g ie a e a e filed ith the Magist ate s Cou t, hi h u de o al

o ditio s i ol es a egist atio fee. The Magist ate s uli g ill e i di g o all pa ties.

O o pletio of the o ks, a d he the o t a to s defe ts lia ilit pe iod has passed, the infrastructure is handed over to MISE and PUB. The PUB, is responsible for infrastructure

service delivery, will be required to receive and act on complaints relating to the operation and

maintenance of the desalination plant, water supply infrastructure and solar PV system. A

complaints register will be maintained.

The contractor will maintain a register of all complaints and grievances received either on site

or at the office. The register will include: date of the complaint, the name of the complainant

(and their contact details), name/title of person receiving the complaint, nature of complaint,

any actions taken to immediately resolve the complaint and any future actions required, and

close-out date when the complaint was satisfactorily resolved.

The register will be subject to inspections during audits and monitoring.


8. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

The mitigation and monitoring activities defined and recommended in this EIA are summarized

in the environmental and social management plan (ESMP) which includes the mitigation and

monitoring requirements (Table 8.1).

8.1 ESMP - Mitigation Measures

In Table 8.1, the required mitigation measures are listed, starting with the actions required

during the design or pre-construction period, then the construction period, and finally the

operating period of the desalination plant, water supply infrastructures, and solar PV system.

The pre-construction period measures all relate to planning items to prevent impacts to marine

and terrestrial ecosystems, the community, longevity of infrastructure, and cultural and

heritage important sites.

During the construction period, mitigation actions should be undertaken, all related to the

construction and installment of the SWRO desalination plant and solar PV system, trench for

the main pipelines and large storage tank and waste management. The safety of workers and

the public is also address.

In the operation stage, the environmental management obligations become the responsibility

of the proponent, MISE, and the operator, PUB.

8.2 Monitoring and Reporting

Monitoring. The ESMP table also lists the actions to be undertaken to monitor effectiveness of

the proposed mitigation measures and to record compliance by the contractor. The monitoring

actions are aligned with the mitigations. The process is important to ensure safeguards are

implemented and any unexpected impacts are responded to swiftly and appropriately.

Monitoring during construction will focus on inspecting work sites to confirm construction,

waste and fuel management is according to specifications and acceptable standards specified in

the o t a to s ou t of o igi if Ki i ati sta da ds do ot e ist , a d that the safet of the workers and the public is upheld.

Both compliance and effects monitoring actions as defined in Table 8-1 should take place as

part of day to day construction supervision, and will be the primary responsibility of the

contractor, supervised by the Supervising Engineer.


During the operation phase, monitoring is the responsibility of PUB, the operator of the newly

installed and upgraded infrastructure. The objectives of monitoring are to (i) quantify that

sufficient dilution of the disposed waste brine is attained through a well maintained and

functioning diffuser after construction and over time, (ii) maintain the performance of the

infrastructures at prime level to reduce potential environments impacts and safeguard issues

that could arise from the failing systems, (iii) ensure workers adhere to correct and safety

operation procedures (iv) ensure wastes generated during the operation are disposed safety (v)

water generated from the desalination plant and pumped from the water reservoirs is safe for

consumption and (vi) understand the contribution of the improved water quality to waterborne

diseases, and trends in relations to reduce use of unsafe water.

The salinity level should be monitored monthly to take account of variation in season, tides,

currents and any other factors that affect the performance of the outfall. The salinity level

should be taken at seabed level and mid depth, at point of discharge, 10m, 20m and 50m on

either side of the point of discharge parallel to the reef edge and identified as offshore sites; at

5m from the reef edge at mid- depth perpendicular to the offshore sites; and two locations

mid-way between the shore and the reef edge along the outfall pipeline route. Obtaining

feedback from local communities on fishing catch from and adjacent to the outfall site will form

the baseline data on fishing effort and catch of the area. The Fisheries Department has done a

lot of work on social economic surveys related to arsenal fisheries, their involvement will be

paramount in the success of data collection and analysis.

Reporting. The reporting will be undertaken at all levels. The contractor will prepare monthly

reports and these will be submitted to the PMU; these reports will contain a summary of

CESMP implementation and corrective action requests issued by the Supervising Engineer. The

PMU will prepare quarterly progress reports (QPR) which will include a section on safeguards

implementation. The PMU will also prepare and sub it to DNPM and ADB/WB the semi-annual

safeguards monitoring reports which will summarize contractor monthly reports and the QPR.


Table 8-1 Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring Plan

Project activity or

environmental

issues

Mitigation and Management Monitoring

Mitigation Measures/Parameter Implementation

Responsibility Verification

Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility

Implementation Oversight

Design and Pre-construction Stage

Environmentally

responsible

procurement

Land acquisition and lease issues resolved and

agreements reached;

Ensure EIA and updated ESMP incorporated into bid and

contract documents. Require Project ESMP as basis for

CESMP to be prepared by contractor and reviewed and

cleared by PMU;

ECD issues environmental license for the project;

Contractor to recruit environmental specialist/officer

(ES/EO) and prepare CESMP for PMU clearance prior to

commencement of works;

Contractor will appoint an experienced site supervisor at

each works site;

If required, PMU to provide support to contractor during

CESMP preparation.

PMU/GOK

(compensation/

lease payment and

ECD);

Supervising

engineer;

Contractor

Land DDR cleared;

Environmental

license;

Bid & contract

documents;

Co t a to s staff contracts – full-

ti e o ks supervisors and

ES/EO recruited;

Approved CESMP

Prior to works

commencing -

once

PMU MISE,

ADB/WB

Climate change and

natural hazards

considerations

Planning new infrastructure at a suitable elevation above

the current high tide level (utilizing accurate topographic

survey);

Ensuring new infrastructure is designed to withstand

extreme weather events, such as sea water inundation;

Selection of renewable system (solar PV) in the design of

power supply to support desalination facility; and

Design system to provide treated, safe water to reduce

the requirement for consumers to boil water for

treatment using green-house gas emitting sources.

PMU Surveys;

Design reports

During detail

design period

PMU (specialists

as required)

MISE,

ADB/WB

Use of land

(temporary) outside

lease area – working

and laydown areas

Laydown sites to store containerized building materials

may be required outside the project sites - use of GOK-

leased land or state land should be arranged, or

negotiation with land owners if private land to be

utilized;

PMU/GOK

(compensation/

lease payment and

ECD);

Land DDR cleared;

Environmental

license;

Signed

lease/agreements

Prior to works

commencing

– as required

PMU;

Contractor

MISE,

ADB/WB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Separate approval may be required by the ECD and

needs to be sorted and cleared prior usage of any land.

Supervising

engineer;

Contractor

UXO survey and

clearance/disposal

Survey for UXO will be undertaken. The TOR for the

survey (and disposal) will be prepared by the supervision

consultant supporting the PMU;

Should UXO be identified, these will be disposed of

following established government and police protocols

and procedure;

The construction sites will be scanned by a qualified

munitions/UXO field support team to evaluate the

presence of MEC and determine the appropriate level

of MEC support requirements;

UXO monitoring performed concurrent with ongoing

construction works. The primary method of support

would be provided by a UXO technician in the field

during construction works who would scan ahead of

the clearing/grubbing and excavations to identify areas

of avoidance containing potential

munitions/explosives;

Supervisors will conduct a munitions/explosives

awareness safety briefing for all construction

personnel.

PMU + UXO

specialist team as

required

Survey;

TOR;

Results of UXO

monitoring;

Records of

munitions/

explosives

awareness safety

briefing

Prior to any

works

commencing

– as required

PMU (specialists

as required);

Police

MISE,

ADB/WB

Earthworks and

vegetation clearance

- impact on

terrestrial

ecosystems

Ensure survey of proposed locations of desalination plant,

solar PV system and water supply infrastructure identifies

and avoids important sites and minimizes footprint to

reduce requirement for vegetation clearing (vegetation to

be retained/protected clearly marked)

PMU/supervision

consultant;

Contractor

Approved report;

Marked survey

plan and trees to

be retained clearly

marked on site

Prior to works

commencing

– as required

PMU/supervision

consultants

MISE,

ADB/WB

Impacts on marine

environment

Brine discharge as per sewer outfall pipeline route will

follow the recommended alignment to minimize impacts

to the lagoon marine ecology;

PMU;

Contractor;

Supervising Engineer

Design report;

CESMP

During detail

design period

– prior to

installation

PMU/supervision

consultants

MISE,

ADB/WB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Erosion and sedimentation control plans should be

developed for the three sub-projects as part of CESMP;

Construction Stage

Obtaining

construction

materials and need

for aggregates –

risk of introduced

alien species

Local aggregates if required can be sourced from Te

Atinimarawa Company Limited;

Quarantine clearance to be obtained from the concerned

authority for any imported aggregates and plant;

Pipes that are associated with the desalination plant

will be prefabricated and purchased by the project and

will be either stainless steel or plastic;

No additional mining for aggregate or other materials

will be conducted by the project.

Contractor;


Contract for local

materials;

Phytosanitary

clearances for

imported materials

and plant

As required

throughout

works period

PMU/supervision

consultants

MISE,

ADB/WB

Installation of brine

disposal, permeate

delivery, and

upgrading of the

reticulated system

causing damage to

property and plant

and disturbing

residents

Contractor will appoint an experienced site supervisor at

each works site;

Undertaking condition survey prior to any works and

planning to avoid damage to property and plant;

At the start of the works the contractor will file a checklist

confirming that necessary pre-planning was completed;

Site rehabilitation upon completion - refurbishing of road

and disturbed ground to original status. Apart from the

road, disturbed grounds resulting from earth works will

be refilled, vegetation and trees removed along the

trenching route will be replaced where appropriate.

Contractor;


Works supervisors

appointed;

Condition survey;

Completed

checklists;

Sites rehabilitated

to agreed standard

During

installation

PMU/supervision

consultants

MISE,

ADB/WB

Transport, storage

and use of

hazardous materials

Contractor prepare plan as part of CESMP;

All fuels or other potentially hazardous materials will be

stored at secure and managed sites (bunded and

concreted floor and walls), identified by the contractor

and approved by the PMU/supervision consultant.

Fuel and oil to be stored in bunded and concreted areas

with 110% capacity;

All hazardous chemicals will be clearly labelled.

Contractor,


CESMP;

Secured storage

area (concerted

and bunded);

Spill kit and worker

training records;

Records of safety

briefings

Throughout

works period

PMU/supervision

consultants

MISE,

ADB/WB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Spill kit, appropriate to the hazardous materials being

used, to be kept on-site and workers to be trained in its

deployment;

Regular checks for leaking oil or fuel from machinery,

Ensuring that any leaks are promptly repaired and/or

parts replaced within two days as part of maintenance of

vehicles and equipment to international standards;

Any surplus hazardous materials shall be removed from

the island when the contractor demobilizes. The

co t a to s o kshop ill ha e clearly marked waste

disposal bins to store filters, rags and waste oil, for

disposal at the landfills;

All asbestos concrete pipe disposal will be supervised by a

competent person, trained in asbestos abatement. Pipe

sections will be wrapped and marked with the cautionary

statement Da ge Asbestos-Containing Material . The

pipe sections will be buried at an authorized location.

Generation of

wastes and waste

management

Prepare a solid waste management plan as part of the

CESMP;

Separate and store wastes with respect for health and

environment. Identify any waste that can be reused or

recycled;

Contain all stored wastes in secure receptacles within

construction sites and the compound, avoiding littering

and runoff;

No waste is to be burned;

Workers will be advised that littering will not be

permitted. Waste generated construction activities at

sites will be cleared and disposed of as per the above;

Use recycled or renewable building materials (e.g. timber)

where possible;

Contractor Solid waste

management plan

as part of CESMP;

Throughout

works

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Optimize and reduce waste production. Avoid mix of

different waste and minimize waste disposal into the

approved dumping area or landfill.

Use of outfall for

brine disposal -

overflow and

spillage of raw

sewage from sump

at the outfall pump

Installing a by-pass pipe to allow continuous outflow of

the sewage while desalination waste pipeline is

connected to the sewage outfall;

Accounting for the likely overflow and spillage problems

in the CESMP;

Having qualified personnel on site to oversee the

upgrading work.

PMU;

Contractor

Design report and

technical

specifications for

pipe upgrading;

CESMP

Prior to and

during works

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB

Earthworks

affecting water

quality - impact of

sediment runoff on

coastal marine

environment

Use of sediment retention fencing, berms, and sandbags

around excavations to restrict the release of sediment

from the construction site;

Use of siltation curtains to contain the site area around

trenching works on the near shore reef to prevent the

release of sediment onto the surrounding reef area;

Immediately re-vegetate and/or stabilize exposed

surfaces and stockpiles of excavated materials; and

Monitor water quality for near shore waters adjacent to

land base earthworks.

Contractor;


On-site sediment

control measures;

CESMP;

Re-vegetation;

Records of water

quality monitoring

(visual)

During works PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB

Localized impacts

on terrestrial

ecology -

vegetation cleared

and/or affected

during construction

Identify trees and vegetation to be removed on survey

plan, plan will be approved by Supervising Engineer;

Mark trees and vegetation to be removed (with

fluorescent paint or tags) as per plan;

Only trees and vegetation marked on plan to be

removed. All trees and vegetation removed and any

others affected during the installation of the solar PV

system and excavation work will be compensated in

accordance with GOK schedules;

Prohibition of burning vegetation and residual bushes and

grasses when clearing planting sites;

Contractor


Phytosanitary

clearances for

imported materials

and plant;

Survey plan and

protected trees

marked on-site;

Compensation paid

for productive

trees removed

Prior to and

during

clearance

works and

earthworks

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Only cutting flora which are a direct obstacle to project

infrastructure works;

All vessels carrying equipment and materials for the

project will be subject to inspection by agriculture

quarantine inspectors.

Ecological impacts

associated with

spillage of hazards

material during

construction

Regular checks for leaking oil or fuel from machinery,

ensuring that any leaks are promptly repaired and/or

parts replaced within two days as part of maintenance of

vehicles and equipment to international standards; and

Contractor will implement the measures identified to

mitigate the impacts from storage and spillage of

hazardous substances and other chemicals and materials.

Contractor CESMP;

Secured storage

area (concerted

and bunded);

Spill kit and worker

training records

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB

Materials and plant

haulage - traffic

disruption and

pedestrian safety

risk

Contractor to prepare a traffic management plan as part

of the CESMP;

Advance notification (through radio and newspaper) to

advise road closures, detours and the like to facilitate

work activities.

Traffic

management plan

as part of approved

CESMP;

Traffic control

measures

implemented;

Signage and

barriers installed as

required

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB/WB

Noise nuisance from

construction

Restricting the working hours to between 0800 hrs and

1700 hrs from Monday to Friday, or Saturday if there is a

need to work on the weekend, this is important,

especially in areas where residential dwellings are located

adjacent to the construction area, as in the desalination

construction area and the upgraded water supply

infrastructure.

Use of vehicles, plant and equipment, that comply with

international standards for construction equipment noise

emission, such as Part 204 of US Federal Regulations-

Contractor Workers allocated

and wearing PPE;

Complaints

register;

Vehicle and plant

maintenance

records

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Noise Emission Standards for Construction Equipment (40

CFR 204)). Verification of such compliance from the

country of origin is required.

The CESMP will include measures to meet the

e ui e e ts of the WB s E i o e tal Health a d Safety Guidelines (EHSG).

Maintenance repair should also be routinely performed

during the construction phase and making the record

available whenever needed to the concerned authority.

Dust generation and

nuisance

Daily spraying/wetting of the access roads, sites (including

excavated trenches for water supply network upgrades)

material and stockpiles;

Locations for stockpiles of materials or waste materials

will be approved by the PMU/supervision consultant and

by the ECD if required;

Loose materials hauled to/from sites will be secured with

a tarpaulin to prevent debris;

Ensure emissions are minimal through standardized site

management such as dust watering or stockpile covers.

Removal of spoil to stockpile sites or use as refill material;

Contractor will provide equipment that conforms to

international emission standards, verified by emission

test certificates and maintenance records, as in the

case of control of black smoke emissions.

Contractor Designated

stockpile areas

approved;

Workers allocated

and wearing PPE;

Dust plumes;

Complaints

register;

Vehicle and plant

maintenance

records

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB

Foreign and non-

Tarawa workers -

social conflict

Contractor to provide information on Kiribati culture

(obtained from PMU) to the expatriate workers;

Code of conduct to be agreed and implemented at all

times. Code of conduct to include:

How and when information will be communicated

between the contractor and the community;

Contractor Agreed code of

conduct;

GRM register;

Meetings and

information

brochures to

community;

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Schedule of activities and works (days and times) and

if night-time or Sunday work will be required;

Conduct of the building and asset condition survey;

Negotiations for access to land for temporary works,

laydown areas and the like;

Conduct and behavior while working in community,

villages or close to churches or schools etc;

Identification of community leaders and appropriate

ways to address them;

Appropriate ways to address women;

Avoidance of fraternization of workers with local

people;

Avoidance of use of inappropriate language or cursing

when working close to residences and shops;

No differences in wages paid to men and women for

similar work;

No use of trafficked or child labor;

Prohibitions on use of illegal drugs and alcohol and

sanctions to be imposed;

Implementation of the health and safety plan

(including communicable diseases awareness and

prevention training); and

Implementation of the grievance redress mechanism

(GRM) and process for resolving conflicts between

workers and community members.

Records of workers

– hours and wages

paid (by aged and

sex);

Records of delivery

of STI/HIV/AIDS

awareness and

prevention training

Occupational and

community health

and safety impacts

Contractor to prepare health and safety plan,

complying with the EHSG, as part of CESMP;

Wo ks sites a d o t a to s offi e a d o pou d to be securely fenced and access only permitted to

workers and authorized people;

Contractor Health and safety

plan as part of

approved CESMP;

Site and works

yard security and

fencing;

Throughout

construction

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


For i-Kiribati workers, comply with Kiribati laws on

employment and health and safety and observe Kiribati

statutory holidays;

Under no circumstances, allow children to enter the

o ks sites, o t a to s offi e a d o pou d;

Provide sufficient light coverage during night

construction. Any light used during night construction

is not to affect neighboring residences;

Designate a full-time, experienced/qualified Health and

Safety Offi e ithi o t a to s staff. Allocate

responsibility for safety inspections to Health and

Safety Officer;

Regularly training of workers in safety precautions, for

themselves and others and for implementing

emergency procedures;

Engage an approved service provider to deliver a

communicable diseases awareness and prevention

program including sexually transmitted infections (STI)

and HIV/AIDS. The program will be conducted

regularly for works and the community;

Provide PPE (at no cost) to workers appropriate to the

activities they undertake (including any activities at

height);

Ensure that vehicle and equipment operators are

properly licensed and trained;

Arrange for provision of first aid kits in all vehicles and

fa ilities ith t ai ed staff o all at the o t a to s office or compound/works yard;

Illegal drugs and alcohol will not be permitted on any

works site and any worker intoxicated while at work

will be dismissed;

PPE provided to

workers;

Meetings and

information

brochures to

community;

Records of workers

– hours and wages

paid (by aged and

sex);

Records of worker

training;

Records of delivery

of STI/HIV/AIDS

awareness and

prevention

training;

GRM register;

First aid kits in

vehicles and at

work sites;

Signage and traffic

control measures;

Accidents/

incidents register


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Establish emergency and medical evacuation

procedures and provide time for workers to undertake

training and drills in the procedures;

Provide regular safety checks of vehicles and

equipment;

Identify hazard zones and provision of hazard warning

signs at the construction sites;

Provide temporary fencing/barriers around potential

hazards such as pipe trenches and any excavations 1m

or deeper to ensure there is no hazard to the workers

or public;

Maintain register of incidents and accidents detailing

date, circumstances, severity, action taken at the time

or subsequently, outcomes and actions/measures to

prevent future incidents/accidents; and

Implement the relevant elements of the GRM and

maintain a complaints/grievance registry.

Impact on

underground service

utilities and services

relocation

Obtain plans from the PUB showing the location of

underground service utilities (power, telecom, other)

and consultation with residents and/or landowners on

the relocation of utilities prior to commencing

excavation operation

Contractor Service and utility

location plans;

Relocation plans

agreed with PUB

Throughout

construction

as required

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB

Encroachment on

private property or

use of private

lands=

Consultation with and written approval from land

owners for access when intrusion on to private

properties is inevitable;

Formulation of lease agreements in cases where the

sites are not leased by GOK.

Contractor Signed agreements

and/or leases as

required

Throughout

construction

as required

PMU/Supervising

Engineer

MISE,

ADB

Operation Stage

Use of fossil fuel and

greenhouse gas

emission

Installation of solar PV system to compensate for the

energy used by the desalination system;

PUB/MISE Records of

performance

During

operations

ECD (MELAD) GOK


Project activity or

environmental

issues




Timing/

Frequency

Responsibility


Provision of safe, treated water to customers that reduces

requirement for boiling water and associated greenhouse

gas emissions.

levels, e-coli and

chlorine residuals

Generated waste Spent filter cartridge and other solid wastes from the

desalination plant will be disposed at the Betio landfill

through routine collection by the Betio Town Council or

by PUB whenever needed.

On site waste bins will be provided.

PUB

Record of disposal

date and volume

per waste category

During

operations

PUB/MISE

Impacts associated

with the failure of

the desalination

plant

Fences with lockable gates, lockable manhole for

underground water valves and visible signs indicating

danger and restricted areas are displayed visibly to the

public;

Regular maintenance (preventive and corrective)

PUB/MISE Lacks of failure and

complaint from the

public

During

operations

PUB/MISE GOK

Quality of drinking

water produced

through desalination

Water testing for salinity and harmful pathogens;

Inform the public to boil water when chlorination system

fails or presence of harmful level of pathogens is detected

in the system

PUB/MISE Reduce trend in

disease related to

unsafe water

During

operations

PUB/MISE GOK

Impact of brine

disposal on marine

ecosystem

Salinity level monitoring at the outfall location to detect

possible loss of performance of the diffuser fitting and

leakage

PUB/MISE Ambient salinity

level is attained

near the reef and

on the reef flat

During

operations

PUB/MISE GOK

Impact of

solid/waste disposal

WASH program incorporated in the project will assist to

address and provide remedy to this continuing and urgent

p o le du i g a d e o d the p oje t s life

PUB Trends of pollution

level on coastal

and ground water

During

operations

MISE/MELAD/OB/

Min. of Health

and Medical

Services

GOK

Health and safety

risks associated with

handling of

chemicals

Chemicals are labelled accordingly;

Safety instructions on chemical use are visibly displayed;

Operators are trained on chemical handling

PUB/MISE Number of

accidents

During

operations

PUB/MISE GOK

Nuisance noise Desalination warehouse is installed with acoustic

packages (noise reducing materials)

PUB/MISE Record of public

complaints

During

operations

PUB/MISE GOK


8.3 Capacity of Proponent and Operator - Monitoring

PUB and MISE are obligated to ensure all monitoring needs are undertaken as expected in

accordance to the assigned schedule. Thus establishing a safeguard post within PUB to

implement all safeguard measures, or assigning the duty to an existing staff member that will

implement the measures after the construction phase and beyond is essential. Training should

be incorporated as part of the project.

The proposed monitoring plans identified and summarized in Table 8-2 are within the capacity

of PUB except for the visual inspection of the outfall and diffuser ports which requires SCUBA

diving for inspection. There are several certified SCUBA divers on the island who can carry out

the inspection work with a cost ranging from $6,000 - $8,000 per year. The cost includes boat

hire, fuel cost, hire of SCUBA gears, and inspection fee. The indicative cost of water quality

monitoring by PUB and MHMS is provided in Table 8-2.

Whilst a capacity needs assessment for ECD/MELAD has not been conducted as part of this EIA,

as ECD is responsible for monitoring the work progress to ensure compliance with the license

conditions it is recommended that any monitoring capacity development activities for

monitoring for the PUB are also extended to include ECD and ensure collaboration between the

ECD and PUB.

Table 8-2 Summary of the water quality monitoring cost

Impact to be

monitored

Means of

Monitoring

Operation

Frequency Responsible Agency Indicative annual

cost (USD)

Water Quality Laboratory testing

of water quality in

the distribution

network

12 tests annually PUB but testing to

be undertaken by

MHMS

13,200

Salinity test for

brine dilution and

drinking water.

Cost of testing

machine and probe

Regular for drinking

water and monthly

for testing of brine

dilution at outfall

monitoring sites

PUB 5,000

Socio-economic

survey on arsenal

fisheries impacts

Annual PUB in

collaboration with

Fisheries

Department

2,000

Implementation of

safeguards

Recruitment of new

staff and training

PUB 10,000


9. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the EIA has found that no significant or residual environmental impacts are likely

to occur provided that the ESMP is updated, implemented and monitored. The ESMP (which

will be updated and further developed as a CESMP by the contractor) addresses the impacts

and risks associated with construction and operation of the SWRO desalination plant, solar PV

system, and water supply infrastructure.

The project will provide significant environmental benefits such as consistent service of potable

public water, reduced public health risks associated with inadequate water supply, and will

incorporate a renewable energy component. Additional benefits include, improved planning,

management, and sustainability of future water supply, improved development planning, and

increased tourism potential.


APPENDICES


Appendix 1: MELAD response to Environmental License Application

.


Appendix 2: Land Options for Desalination Plant

Current Situation. Drinking water supply in South Tarawa is currently limited to water pumped

through the PUB distribution system which is augmented with collected rainfall, when

available. The source of potable water is from the fresh water lens at Bonriki. The volume of

water pumped from Bonriki to supply all consumers in South Tarawa is approximately

2 ML/day.

The direction that government is taking towards future water supply is based upon having a

pressurised water supply to consumers that will be available 24 hours per day. This will require

another source of drinking water to be established. Previous studies have identified that the

only viable means of supplying large quantities of additional drinking water is desalination of

seawater.

Desalination System. The expected capacity of the desalination plant to meet current demand

is approximately 3 ML/day, ultimate capacity is expected to be approximately 6 ML/day.

Hydraulic Considerations. Preliminary hydraulic studies on the capacity of the existing water

transmission line that runs from Bonriki to Betio have shown that the pipeline does not have

the capability to transfer this additional water from a desalination facility located at Bonriki. To

maintain future water supply throughout South Tarawa in the existing pipeline will require a

desalination facility located in the Western end of South Tarawa, preferably in Betio which has

a large bulk storage tank and a large population centre.

A desalination facility located at Bonriki will require a new larger pipeline running the majority

of the length of South Tarawa will be required which will incur very high cost and cause

considerable disruption. A possible connection point to the existing pipeline is around Ambo.

Strategically it is preferable to have a water source at either end of South Tarawa.

Operational Considerations. The desalination plant will be a strategic asset for supply of

additional drinking water to South Tarawa to meet current and future water demand. From an

operational consideration, there are significant benefits to the PUB in locating the desalination

facility on a single site, as opposed to having multiple small sites located in the western portion

of South Tarawa. A single site would allow the capacity of the plant to be upgraded without

future land issues.

Area Requirements. The area required for a desalination plant located on a single site to meet

current and future water demand is 2400 m2, preferably a site with dimensions approximating

80 m by 30 m. The overall land requirements if multiple sites for desalination plants are


required would be significantly greater than 2400 m2. This is because balance of plant

requirements, such as water storage tanks, are required at each plant site.

Water Supply. Saline water will be supplied to the desalination plant from a series. It is

anticipated that nine bores will be required at 25 to 30 metre spacing. Land will be required for

the bore headworks.

Brine Discharge. The environmental and social constraints relating to brine discharge are

common throughout South Tarawa and are not specific to a specific plant site.

Potential Sites. The potential sites identified are shown in Table A2.1.

Table A2.1 – Potential Sites for Desalinization Plant

Site Description

1 Vacant land opposite the Parliament in Ambo

2 Abaokoro on the ocean side in Ambo

3 Land to the west of the Nanikai landfill site

4 Land on the eastern end of the Bairiki causeway

5 Land in Betio, on the ocean side between the WW2 heritage artifacts and Taiwan Park

6 Land in Betio, eastern area used by Nippon Causeway contractor, Betio

7 Some of the land currently occupied by the meteorological office, Betio

8 Land currently occupied for container storage, Betio

9 Land in Betio, western area used by Nippon Causeway contractor

10 Location on Bonriki Water Reserve

11 PUB Water Yard up to and including McConnell Dowell site/MPWU Civil yard

12 Bairiki-end of Dai Nippon Causeway (south) currently occupied by Ferris wheel

Table A2.2 sets out the existing ownership and use and identifies any issues.

An image of each location with the land required for the desalination plant is shown in the

following plates. The desalination plant boundary and bores are also shown for indication

purposes only. The actual position may be changed to suit any specific requirements.


Table A2.2 – Description of Potential Sites and Issues

Site Land Issues

Tenure/Ownership Use/status Social Environmental Engineering

1 Assumed to be

residential

Vacant site

Close to population center in active

community.

Bores will have to be installed outside

this area within residential areas

Potential noise issue to local

residences but this can be

managed by building design

Not ideal from hydraulic

consideration because the site is

not on the western end of South

Tarawa

Close to water transmission line

Close to 11 kV power line

Brine discharge close to the reef

Minimal area for construction

laydown will make construction

difficult

Not ideal from consideration of

water supply from bores

2 Unknown, land use

assumed to be

residential

No residential or

industrial activity

Remote from residential centres

Land occasionally used by community

groups

Undisturbed site in highly

modified area

Will require construction of a

causeway for vehicle access

Considerable disturbance to land

in construction phase

Not ideal from hydraulic

consideration because the site is

not close to the western end of

South Tarawa

Not close to water or

transmission line

Brine discharge close to ocean,

will need to cross road

Will require construction of a

causeway for vehicle access

Area available for construction

laydown

Site acceptable for installation

of a series of bores

3 Unknown, land use

assumed to be Open

Space - Recreation

Site currently

occupied by shipping

containers

Remote from residential centres

No social amenity activity, apart from

landfill, nearby

Disturbed site

Environmental noise not a major

issue

Reclaimed land, will require

geotechnical investigation




Site Land Issues


Brine discharge close to ocean,

will need to cross road

Area for construction laydown

available

Long site that is acceptable for

installation of a series of bores

Not ideal, but workable site,

from hydraulic consideration of

continuous pressurised water

supply

4 land use assumed to

be Non-residential

institutions –

Government

Buildings

Transmission tower is

present on the site

Close to a residential area

Some bores might need to encroach

into residential areas

Disturbed site

Potential noise issue to local

residences but this can be

managed by building design.


and 11 kV power line

Brine discharge close to ocean

Presence of transmission tower

will probably create limitations

with significant impact on site

layout

Construction laydown area

available

Not ideal from consideration of

water supply from bores

5 assumed to be Open

Space - Recreation

Vacant but vegetated

Close to Taiwan Park and WWII

heritage artifacts

Bores will be presents in Taiwan Park

and WWII heritage area.

Industrial building close to used social

amenity

Vegetated site

Need to reduce community noise

levels because of proximity to

Taiwan Park

A preferred location for

discharge of drinking water into

the transmission line from a

hydraulic consideration


and 11 kV power line

Limited area for construction

laydown

Some bores would have to be

installed outside this area,

possibly encroaching onto

adjacent areas or sourced from

land on lagoon side


Site Land Issues


6 land use assumed to

be Non-residential

institutions –

Government

Buildings

Currently used by

Contractor for

causeway/road

project

Residential area around the site

Most of the site is required for the

desalination plant

Disturbed site

Need to consider community

noise levels because of proximity

to residential area

Bores will have to be installed

outside this area in non-

residential area

Ideal location for plant control,

desalination plant will interface

with Betio main storage tank

Route for drinking water

pipeline to Betio main storage

tank needs to be considered

through residential areas

Brine discharge to ocean side,

will need to run along the road

to miss the cemetery


Minimal area for construction

laydown

Remote borefield

7 Non-residential

institutions –

Government

Buildings

Currently used by

Office of Meteorology

Residential area around the site


will need to run along road to

miss the cemetery

Vegetated site currently being

used by a government agency



to residential area

Borefield could possibly affect

local groundwater table







through residential areas


will need to run along the road


Area for construction laydown,

but considerable interface

issues with Office of

Meteorology

Potential to install all bores

within this area

8 Assumed to be

industrial

Currently used for

storage of shipping

containers

Residential area to the north of the

site

Not all of the site is required for the

desalination plant

Disturbed site



to residential area





Site Land Issues







Large site available, not all of

which is required for final

installation

Good area for construction

laydown

Site sufficient to possibly install

all bores

9 Assumed to be

industrial

Currently used by

Contractor for

Causeway Contract

Residential area to the north of the

site

Not all of the site is required for the

desalination plant

Disturbed site



to residential area











installation


laydown


all bores

Area not ideal unless some of

the existing building on site are

removed

10 Unknown Currently used for

multiple activities

Large portions of land

are not available

because of other

activities, for example

fish farming

Residential area

Not all of the available land is required

for the desalination plant

Desalination plant might encroach on

land being considered for future

residential requirements

Environmental assessment will

be required when site identified

Major portion of the land is

swampy and not ideal for

construction, this limited

available areas

Bores will be remote from

desalination plant and require

their own electrical power

system


Site Land Issues


New water transmission

pipeline from Bonriki will be

required, possibly connecting to

the existing pipeline around

Ambo

Strategically it is preferable to

have two water supply systems

locate at either end of South

Tarawa

From water quality

consideration, it is

advantageous to blend reverse

osmosis water with Bonriki

ground water

11 Assumed to be

industrial

Currently used by PUB

for 2 ML reservoir,

elevated tank for

water reticulation,

storage for pipes and

the site offices.

MPWU use part of the

area for heavy plant

storage, soil

laboratory and site

offices.

Currently surrounded

by residential areas,

school and site offices.

Surrounded by Residential areas and

the school

Not all of the available land is required

for the desalination plant

Desalination plant might encroach on

land being considered for future

residential requirements

Disturbed site



to residential area








installation


laydown


all bores if Macdow area can be

made available



removed

12 Assumed to be

industrial

Currently used by

overseas contractor

and the Ferris wheel

There are residential buildings to the

south and the church to the east.

The land is thought to be owned by

private landowners but these need to

be confirmed by Lands Management

Division of MELAD.

Disturbed site



to residential area

Bore-wells could be located on

the beach.

The current site is too sandy and

there may be a need to improve

soil bearing capacity.



installation


Site Land Issues


Desalination plant will prevent viewing

of the causeway from the Church site.


laydown


all bores along the beach.



removed


Site 1- Opposite Parliament building in Ambo


Site 2 – Abaokoro (ocean-side in Ambo)


Site 3 - Land to the west of the Nanikai landfill site


Site 4 - Land on the eastern end of the Bairiki causeway


Site 5 - Land in Betio (ocean side - east of WWII heritage artifacts)


Site 6 - Land in Betio, Eastern area used by Nippon Causeway contractor

Bores will need to be located remote from this site with bore

collector main and independent power supply.

Communication with plant site required.


Site 7 - Land in Betio, meteorological site

Bores within

property boundary


Site 8 - Land in Betio, currently used for shipping container storage

Bores within property

boundary


Site 9 - Land in Betio, Western area used by Nippon Causeway contractor

Bores within

property

boundary


Site 10 – Bonriki Water Reserve Area


Site 11 – PUB Water Yards to McConell Dowell area


Site 12 – South of Bairiki end of Dai Nippon Causeway

Site 12


Appendix 3: Minutes of Community Consultations

Member of consultation team; Iannang Teaioro, Environment Safeguards, Taboia Metutera,

Water Engineer and Deputy Team Leader

Venue and attendance; meeting with the communities is arranged prior every meeting through

the community or church leaders.

Six maneaba (meeting halls) were visited between 3rd and 11th February 2018 during the

disclosure and consultation meetings. Two at Betio and one at Bairiki, Teaoraereke,

Bangantebure and Bonriki. Summary of the attendance is provided in Table A3.1.

Table A3.1. Summary of attendance

Village Date of meeting Male Female Total

Betio (Temanoku) 3 Feb 2018 8 10 18

Betio (Temakin) 6 Feb 2018 15 30 45

Bairiki 9 Feb 2018 9 6 15

Teaoraereke 7 Feb 2018 13 18 31

Bangantebure 11 Feb 2018 15 35 50

Bonriki 11 Feb 2018 21 10 31

Total 81 109 190

The participants were informed of the main components of the project that includes

installation and operation of a RO desalination plant and solar PV system, and the upgrading of

the water supply system on South Tarawa. The activities involved and proposed locations for

each component were presented including the reasons why these locations were chosen. For

the desalination plant information on the production capacity, source of feed water, how the

brine will be disposed, potential environmental impacts of brine on the marine and terrestrial

ecosystem were disclosed. Other environmental and social issues that could arise during the

construction were discussed in particular: (i) land access, (ii) effect of encroaching onto private

properties, (iii) excavation works and related impacts on trees and permanent structures

removals, noise, dust, increased traffic that would cause nuisance during construction,

destruction of the newly completed tar-sealed road and impacts on traffic. Mitigation

measures for each and the benefits associated with the implementation of the projects formed

parts of the discussion during the meeting.


Table A3-2 Feedback from each community and response.

Feedback Response from PPTA Team

1. Betio - Temanoku

1.1 Effect of drilling on ground stability

1.2 Effect of feed water extraction n

freshwater lens

1.3 Effect of brine on marine ecosystem.

1.1 Ground stability will not be affected

1.2 Freshwaters will not be affected as the water will be pumped

from a depth of 30-35m, well below the freshwater lens

1.3 Dilution of brine will be attained within 10 m from the point

of discharge.

2. Betio - Temakin

2.1 Effect of drilling on ground stability

2.2 Effect of feed water extraction on

freshwater lens and level of underground

water

2.3 Effect of brine on marine ecosystem

2.4 Location – why the desalination plant is

not located over the seawater instead of on

land

2.1 Ground stability will not be affected

2.2 Freshwaters will not be affected as the water will be pumped

from a depth of 30-35m, well below the freshwater lens. A

drawback on underground water level of about 10-30 mm will be

noticeable at the extraction point but diminishes to zero once

you reach 20 meters away from the borehole.

2.3 Dilution of brine will be attained within 10 m from the point

of discharge.

2.4 Cost to construction seawall or separate island over the reef

is not feasible due to costs and vulnerability to storms waves

3. Bairiki

3.1 Effect of excavation on vegetation and

structure

3.2 Convert brine to salt instead of

disposing it

3.3 Sourcing feed water from the ocean

3.4 Government to create a reserve fund

that can be used to compensate

landowners for having their land disturbed

during the excavation work

3.5 Community to have equal share of labor

recruited to the project during construction.

Favoritism has been observed in the past

and ongoing project where recruitment is

based on whom you know.

3.1 Effect should be minimized where possible. However,

replanting, resettlement plan to address the issue, and

compensation are the mitigation measures provided.

3.2 Not feasible due to chemicals used in the desalination

process and would contaminate the salt if produced from the

brine

3.3 Ocean water has more suspended solids in it and would

require more effort and hence cost to remove

3.4 Will raise the matter to Government through MISE

3.5 Will raise the matter to Government through MISE



4. Teaoraereke

4.1 Cost of water, will it be increased after

the completion of project?

4.2 Suggested that a study should be

undertaken to ensure there is no impact of

desalination on the marine and terrestrial

ecosystem.

4.1 Government is considering different options

4.2 Study is underway and there will be monitoring activities to

be undertaken to ensure impacts are minimized.

5. Bangantebure

5.1 Are the water consumers expected to

pay for the water after completion of

project

5.2 IF paying for water then request that

cost is kept at minimum level

5.3 Effects of pipe installation on the newly

completed tar-sealed road

5.4 Fabricating water pipe connections by

individual causing damage to the reticulated

system. Concern over poor repair and

hence sustainability of infrastructure

5.5 No reticulated water supply system on

the lagoon side of the road. Will the project

installed the system for the concerned

residences.

5.1 It is expected that the consumers will be charged

5.2 Yes Government is considering different options

5.3 Efforts will be taken to ensure the newly tar-sealed road is

not affected. However, if affected the contractor is responsible

to resurface the excavated road to original status

5.4 WASH will address the issue with the community the

importance of having the system and effects when damage and

encourage the community to participate in maintaining the

system. Management and implementation of improved

maintenance that is expected to result from capacity building

and maintenance support components of the project

5.5 This will be addressed by the project

6. Bonriki

6.1 Rely on expert to provide appropriate

mitigation measures towards impact on the

marine ecosystem as most of them are not

expert and would not have any clues on

what will happen except that there will be

happy with more water from the project

6.2 Concern that trees will be affected

during the installation of solar PV system,

and therefore requesting if the amount of

compensation can be increased from the

current level

6.1 Impacts on the marine is expected to be minimal

6.2 Will raised the matter to Government through MISE

6.3 This will be address by the project

6.4 It is expected that current extraction rate will be maintained

and expected to decrease overtime due to the installation of a

desalination plant.



6.3 No reticulated water supply system in

Bonriki village. Request for one.

6.4 Freshwater extraction from Bonriki

water reservoir has increased the salinity

level of water in the village and could

worsen if the existing extraction rate

continues

49453-001: south tarawa water supply project...melad ministry of environment, lands and agricultural...

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