Displaying items by tag: Southern Waters Consulting - Projects 2014

Phase 1B: Mentoring a team of IFC-selected Nepalese professionals through the data collection and set-up of a basin-wide DRIFT EFlows DSS for the Trishuli Basin in Nepal to assess options with respect biodiversity protection and sustainability to the development of hydropower plants in the basin.

Environmental Flow Consultant.
Scenarios (pathways) of progressive HP development in the Lower Mekong River were analysed using the DRIFT Database set up for the MRC Council (see below). The pathways considered under the SHDS2018 have a more nuanced approach. The “Design Mitigation”, “Prioritised” and “Preservation” (different forms of mitigation) pathways involve re-design, re-location or deferment to beyond 2040 of certain projects, either in response to regional power demand or to the need to balance trade-offs. An important aspect of the SHDS analysis was to ‘quantify’ the environmental impacts of the alternative pathways in a manner that was consistent with the Council Study analyses. The only way to do this was to the DRIFT (BioRA) model that was established and used for assessing environmental impacts in the Council Study. Using DRIFT allowed the team to directly compare the alternative SHDS pathways with the 2020 (M2) and 2040 (M3) Council Study scenarios.

Project Advisor: The main aim of the project is to classify the water resources of the Berg River Basin and to set Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) for all significant water resources in the Berg Water Management Area. The RQOs are to be determined in accordance with the Department of Water Affairs' Procedures to Determine and Implement Resource Quality Objectives.

Project Advisor: The main aim of the project is to classify the water resources of the Breede Gouritz Basin and to set Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) for all significant water resources in the Breede Gouritz Water Management Area. The RQOs are to be determined in accordance with the Department of Water Affairs' Procedures to Determine and Implement Resource Quality.

Environmental Flow assessments for the Neelum, Jhelum and Poonch Rivers affected by the proposed hydropower developments in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. This project made use of the DRIFT DSS and built on earlier work done in the basin for individual hydropower projects.

Phase A: Mentoring a team of IFC-selected Nepalese professionals through the data collection and set-up of a basin-wide DRIFT EFlows DSS for the Trishuli Basin in Nepal to assess options with respect biodiversity protection and sustainability to the development of hydropower plants in the basin.

Member of the TMGA Project Environmental Working Group (EWG) formed to assist with site selection and impact monitoring for boreholes sites proposed for bulk water supply to Cape Town.

Process Consultant: Politics and development that are indifferent to sustainability have come at profound cost to the River Ravi ecosystem. The previously rich ecosystem hosted 65 fish species and a myriad of other wildlife; most of which is gone. Much of the floodplain has been converted to farmland or urban development. The perennial and non-perennial tributaries are drains conveying wastewater from large urban centres to the River Ravi. And, in parts, the River Ravi itself can no longer sustain aquatic life throughout the year. The objectives of the River Ravi study are: To undertake a comprehensive current situation assessment of the river basin, including the pollution situation and its impacts on human and ecosystem health, climate change risks and vulnerabilities, institutional gaps and development needs; To summarise the outcomes as an ADB knowledge product that can be used to raise public awareness, foster policy engagement and generate support for the revitalization and resilience plan, and its subsequent implementation; To develop a long-term, multisector plan to revitalize and build resilience in the Ecosystem of River Ravi Basin, including recommendations for investment projects and institutional reforms, including: an analytical framework for the plan developed through multi-stakeholder visioning exercises and consultation and one or two prefeasibility studies will be prepared for identified priority projects.

Environmental Flow Consultant:The proposed approach was to make use of and build on work from the Zambezi Basin on behalf of ZAMCOM as part of the Zambezi Water Resources Information System (ZAMWIS) Enhancement 3 Project.The ZAMWIS approach to EFlows is to use existing DRIFT EFlows databases for the basin to establish relationships between driving hydrological and sediment indicators and responding ecosystem indicators.The idea is to use these to deliver a rapid EFlows assessment for the Kafue Flats and Kafue Gorge for use in ongoing planning initiatives by GFA in Zambia.