GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY
PDF-B Request
June 1, 2002
1. Country China
2. GEF Focal Area: International Waters
3. Operational Programme: OP10 Contaminant Based Program
4. Project Title: Hai River Basin Integrated Water and Environment Management
5. Total Cost (Tentative): US $62 million
6. PDF Request: $350,000
7. Government Contributions: Government-Financed Consultants and In-Kind: $600,000
8. Requesting Agency: World Bank
9. Executing Agency: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOF);
Ministry of Water Resources (MWR);
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)
Tianjin Municipality
Beijing Municipality
Hebei Province10. Duration: 10 months: September 2002 - July 2003
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11. Project Objective
The overall objective of the proposed project is to catalyze a more integrated approach to water and environment management in the Hai Basin in order to improve the quality of the Bohai Sea environment. Specifically, the project will assist the Chinese Government to address the problem of water pollution in the river basin and of serious water shortage, and to promote integrated water and environmental management throughout the Hai Basin.
The specific objectives of the project are to: (i) promote the establishment of an integrated water and environment management system that adapts to specific features of the Hai Basin, including an integrated water utilization and a water rights based management system in terms of water availability and the capacity of the water environment to sustain the use, control of water pollution in terms of gross loading limits, pollution penalization policy for upstream and downstream reaches, water pricing policy to promote demand management, discharge licensing, groundwater management, water conservation and wastewater reuse; (ii) support the demonstration of different aspects related to promoting integrated water and environment management including utilization and pollution control in a key sub-basin of the Hai Basin, including measures for encouraging industrial structural adjustment, wastewater treatment in small cities, wastewater reuse, agricultural system adjustments, and sustainable groundwater management; (iii) support the trail demonstration of water and environment management in several counties in Beijing Municipality, Hebei Province, as well as in the Municipality of Tianjin and in all of its counties; (iv) investigate sustainable options for construction and operation of municipal wastewater treatment plants in small and medium sized cities and towns; (v) support the policy framework and institutional development aspects of integrated water and environmental management of water resources and water environment at the central-government level.
In support of these objectives, the project will assist governments at five administrative levels – county, province/municipality, sub-basin, river basin, and central government to: (i) reduce water pollution from the Tianjin Municipality by providing financing for constructing wastewater treatment plants in secondary towns, and improve water and environmental management; (ii) support for integrated water and environmental management in approximately 10 pilot counties throughout the Hai Basin; (iii) improve management in the Hai Basin level, including basin-wide measurement, monitoring, and database management , and strategic planning and technical investigations; (iv) develop and carry out a demonstration pilot project of integrated water resources management and water pollution control in the Zhang Wei Nan subbasin with participation of selected counties; and (v) provide institutional support at the Central level.
12. Global Significance
The Bohai Sea, located in the northwest corner of the Yellow Sea, is one of the world’s most ecologically important and stressed bodies of water and the fishery resources are important to China, Japan, and North and South Korea. More than 40 rivers discharge into the Bohai Sea, of which the Yellow (Huang), Hai, and Liao rivers are the most significant. From an ecological perspective, the Bohai Sea is a large shallow embayment of the Yellow Sea. The Yellow Sea in turn is a shallow continental sea of the Northwest Pacific Ocean. These relationships are important because of the physical and biological links between these systems. In particular, fish and shellfish stocks in the Yellow Sea are dependent on the Bohai Sea as a reproduction and nursery area.
The open water environment in the Bohai Sea supports diverse marine life including invertebrates, fishes, marine mammals and birds. In the past, a major source of larvae and juveniles for the East China Seas came from the Bohai Sea, but this function has steadily diminished. Therefore, the ecological condition of the Bohai Sea is critically important for maintaining fishery stocks and biodiversity in China’s northern fisheries. It is generally accepted that over-fishing, pollution, reduction of freshwater inflows and habitat loss have combined to reduce these eco-system functions.
The Bohai Sea has historically been an important fishing area due to its location adjacent to major population centers, and its role as a seasonal spawning and nursery ground for the larger and more productive Yellow Sea fishery. The history of Bohai Sea fisheries is one of boom and bust scenarios, with the major impact being the introduction of motorized fishing vessels in the 1960s, and new types of fishing gear such as fine-mesh nets for prawns that also caught all kinds of juvenile and larval fish. In 1988, prawn trawling was banned, and has been replaced now by thousands of kilometers of drift and set gill nets, which also have a negative impact on juvenile and larval fish. A major paradox of the Bohai Sea fishery is that despite its damaged condition, it is still attracting increasing numbers of fishermen due to lack of alternative employment in the region for many people. Today, the Bohai Sea is very heavily fished, with almost 90,000 registered fishing vessels in the provinces/municipalities surrounding the Sea.
In contrast to the decline in the natural aquatic systems, aquaculture has grown rapidly, and the Bohai Sea and northern Yellow Sea now account for almost two-thirds of the PRC total production. The major species cultivated are prawns, oysters, clams, mussels, cockles, abalone, and seaweed. Pollution, both from external sources and self-production, as well as diseases are increasingly affecting aquaculture production, and the threat of human disease and toxic contaminants are putting pressure on the government and the industry to clean up pollution problems.
The Bohai Sea is subject to heavy land-based pollution from domestic, industrial, agricultural, and livestock sources. The Bohai Sea is subject to one-third of the wastewater and half of the pollutant loading discharged into seas bordering China. This amounts to about 3 billion m3 of wastewater and 700,000 tons of pollutants per year. The areas where pollutant concentrations exceed the national standards in the Bohai Sea, mainly for inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous, has been expanding and in 1997 it covered 43,000 km2, accounting for half of the total sea area. The most seriously affected areas include the estuaries and coastal shallows. Pollution has led to mass mortalities of aquaculture species and contributes to an increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms, commonly known as “red tides”. In 1989 a “red tide” covering 1,300 km2 formed in the Bohai Sea off the coast of Hebei; an even more massive “ride tide” extending over 3,000 km2 appeared in the Liaodung Gulf of the Bohai Sea in 1998.
The Hai River Basin is the one of the largest and most important basins draining into the Bohai Sea. The Basin is part of the historical heartland of China, and one of the most important agricultural and industrial regions in the country. Spread over five provinces: Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, and the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, the Basin is home to 117 million people and accounts for 15% of China’s GNP. The Hai river system is composed of a number of rivers which come together at, or just upstream of, the city Tianjin and discharge into the Bohai Sea. The system has a drainage area of approximately 200,000 km2, approximately 60% of which is mountainous and 40% is plains. [1] The Hai Basin is perhaps the most water-stressed and one of the most polluted basins in China, and discharges directly into the globally significant Bohai Sea.
The Hai Basin is a major contributor to pollutant loadings in the Bohai Sea. Water quality degradation, in both rivers and the sea, is just one of many water resource problems in the Basin. Historically, flooding has been a major concern to Basin residents. Since 1963, the Hai Basin has been the subject of a comprehensive water-control program to reduce flooding. China is now nearing the limits of water resources development in the Hai Basin, and must grapple with a set of complex and interrelated water management problems. Groundwater, which accounts for half of the Basi’s exploitable water resources, is being mined and polluted at unsustainable rates. Water availability in the Hai Basin is only 340 m3 per capita, placing the Basin among the most water scarce areas in the world on par with North African countries such as Algeria. Even with proposed large scale water transfers from the Yangtze River and full exploitation of regional water resources, future water imbalances are projected to grow. Improved water and water environmental management including water resources demand management and increased water use efficiency and productivity are pressing needs in the basin.
13. Background
The environmental challenges outlined above are well-known in China, but the country is just now beginning the decades-long journey to create modern water resources and marine management systems. In the 9th National Five Year Plan (1995-2000), China environmental improvement priorities were defined as three rivers (Huai, Hai, and Liao); three lakes (Tai, Cao, and Dianchi Lake); two air quality issues (SO2 and acid rain); one municipality (Beijing); and one marine area (Bohai Sea). The proposed project would directly address two of the China’s environmental priorities: restoring the Bohai Sea and pollution control and water management in the Hai Basin.
The proposed project provides an important link in an overall program to improve the Bohai Sea environment by focusing on water resources management and pollution control in the Hai Basin. Marine and coastal zone management issues are being addressed by other initiatives, often with the support of GEF. China is a participating state in the GEF/UNDP project for building Partnerships for the Environmental Protection and Management of Asian Seas” (PEMSEA). Another important GEF/UNDP project is for reducing Environmental Stress in the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem” which was approved in 2000 and evolved from the PEMSEA collaboration. The Yellow Sea project, which also covers the Bohai Sea, is a regional effort involving China and the Republic of Korea to formulate and implement: (a) common fisheries management plans and pilot projects; (b) regional biodiversity strategy, (c) regional water quality strategy, and (d) regional institutional and capacity building.
The Chinese government has also begun to address the difficult water pollution issues related to the Bohai Sea, and improving water resources management in the Hai Basin. In 1999 the PRC State Council ratified the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) “Blue Sea Action Plan for the Bohai Sea” which calls for investing US $7.2 billion over the next 15 years to control land-based sources of pollution into the Bohai Sea. In 2000 the State Council approved Policy Document No. 36 [2000] outlining the need to undertake integrated urban water resources management, including water conservation, water pollution control, groundwater management, water pricing for demand management, and improving laws and regulations dealing with water issues.
Effective control of water pollution is one of the measures for improving the water environment. In 2001, SEPA formulated the 10th Five Year Plan of Water Pollution Prevention and Treatment in the Hai Basin, briefly named the Hai River Plan. The Plan is based on a Program of Water Pollution Prevention in the Hai Basin approved by the State Council in March 1999. In this Plan, the programmed water quality goals of some river reaches were revised, a control target index of gross amount of pollutant for 2005, COD and NH3-N were added, and some necessary water pollution treatment items were supplemented. The Plan identified that the key needs are to substantially reduce the gross amount of pollutant discharge in Hai Basin, to guarantee drinking water source areas reach standards, to cross-provincial water quality disputes, and to establish a control system for the gross amount of NH3-N pollutant. The priority area for action defined in the Plan is Guanting Reservoir and its catchment area, and the Zhang Wei Nan canal water system. The includes the following three objectives:
· Water Environmental Quality Objective. In the case of existing natural runoff or water coming from upstream, (i) among 24 protection sections of drinking water source areas, 10 will reach class II and 14 will reach class III; (ii) the water bodies in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Qinhuangdao will reach requirements in terms of the zones’ of water environmental functions. (iii) the COD concentration in low-flow periods in specified areas will be maintained under 120mg/l, and other indices will basically meet the standards for agricultural irrigation water use; and (iv) the water quality in other areas will better than that in the 9th Five-Year Plan period.
· Control Target Index of Gross Amount of Pollutants Objective. Discharged amounts of COD will be less than 1.065 million tons, which is a 33% reduction from the 1.584 million tons discharged in 2000; channel inflow of COD will be controlled at 776 million tons, a 26.1% reduction from the 1.05 million tons in 2000. The discharged amount of NH3-N will be controlled at 205 thousand tons, 22% lower than 262 thousand tons in 2000; channel inflow of NH3-H will be controlled at 149 thousand tons, 23.2% reduced from the 194 thousand tons in 2000.
· Target Index on Project Investment Objective. Investments will be made in 486 projects in 7 groups with total investments of 39.04 billion yuan, which will include 178 wastewater treatment plants with investments of 22.96 billion yuan, 41 industrial structural adjustment projects including cleaning up of production processes with investments of 1.4 billion yuan, 154 industrial point source treatment plants with investments of 4.14 billion yuan, 37 regional and basin integrated treatment projects with investments of 8.59 billion yuan, 17 county-level demonstration projects in ecological agriculture with investments of 0.96 billion yuan, 5300 wells with investments of 0.53 billion yuan, and 45 environmental monitoring capacity building projects with investments of 0.45 billion yuan.
In order to safeguard sustainable development of the social economy in capital city of Beijing and surrounding areas, the Capital Water Resources and Sustainable Utilization Plan for 2001-2005 for the Early Part of 21st Century was approved by the State Council. The water consumption in Beijing has exceed bearing capacity of the water resources and the ecological system due to rapid population and economic growth and the high speed of urbanization. Therefore, in view of the water ecological system, the Plan emphasized the need for coordination attention to population, resources and the environment. The Plan aims to achieve a general balance of water resources supply and demand in terms of the water supply systems and the configuration of water resources in local region, in order to guarantee sustainable development of the social economy in Beijing and surrounding areas. The Plan will include integrated policies such as water conservation, water recycling, utilization of rainfall and flood waters, conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, water resources protection, integrated water resources management systems and adjustments in water pricing. The objective is that by 2005, additional water savings will amount to 0.79 billion cubic meters than present status, water recycling will be 0.645 billion m3 and about 0.15 billion m3 of additional water will be made available through rainfall and flood management improvements. In addition wastewater treatment will be increased such that the water quality in suburban area will reach the national standards.
Implementation of these policies on water resources protection and water pollution control is taking place in large cities with strong Chinese Government action, often with World Bank financing, as well as other international and domestic financing institutions. Beijing has prepared a Water Quality Management Plan which calls for full secondary treatment of wastewater by 2015, and the World Bank is financing part of a US$750 million sewerage program under the FY01 2nd Beijing Urban Environment Project. The City of Tianjan will provide almost 100% wastewater treatment with nutrient removal by 2007. The World Bank will help finance part of this investment program under the 2nd Tianjin Urban Environment Project, which will be appraised in early-2002. The World Bank is also financing part of the FY01 Hebei Urban Environment Project which has large sewerage components for the cities of Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, and Handan. The Government is also making a major push to ensure that all industries abide by industrial wastewater treatment standards. The Government is also beginning to address the serious water scarcity problems in the Hai Basin. The Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) has initiated a National Irrigated Agriculture Water-Saving Program, and the FY01 Water Conservation Project,” which is partially financed by the Bank, is a key effort to conserve water.
The rationale for the proposed GEF-financed project is primarily to address water pollution from small or medium sized cities (less than 500,000 people) and non-point sources, and to promote integrated water and environment management. Although no precise data exists, it is estimated that more than half the water pollution generated in the Hai Basin comes from secondary towns (and their associated industries) and rural areas. Almost none of these towns has wastewater treatment facilities. GEF participation will help secondary towns address the important problems of limited financial resources and management capacity. Integrated water and environmental and water management is also necessary to resolve the complex water issues in the Hai Basin. A key management issue is how to substitute treated wastewater effluent for groundwater and thus reduce groundwater mining and polluted run-off into the Bohai Sea in an integrated way
14. Project Description and Implementation Arrangements
According to the natural characteristics of the Hai Basin, the proposed project includes five components. Namely: (a) action plan of water resources protection and water environment quality improvement in the Hai Basin; (b) water resources integrated utilization and water pollution prevention demonstration in key subbasin; (c) trial study on integrated management of water and environment in selected counties; (d) wastewater treatment and integrated water and environment management in Tianjin Municipality; and (e) capacity building of central water resources and water environment management.
Component 1: Action Plan of Water Resources Protection and Water Environment Quality Improvement in the Hai Basin.
The component will support formulation of a basin action plan with focus on capacity building and basin integrated management, on the basis of the characteristics of the basin, Bohai Action Plan and the 10th Five Plan of Water Resources Protection and Water Pollution Prevention in Hai River Basin. The component would also facilitate the establishment of institutional coordinating mechanisms for integrated water and environmental management.
The component would improve basin-wide measurement, monitoring, modeling, and database management for water and environmental management (hereinafter referred to as Knowledge Management, or KM). Specific KM activities could include improving basin-wide water quality monitoring and modeling systems, and water ecological environment monitoring system for river reaches and other water bodies in the Basin, including a coastal water quality model; basin-wide network of flow monitoring stations coupled with a simulation model for real-time reservoir management and water allocation; regional groundwater models; GIS mapping; satellite imagery for improved resources management, etc. The specific KM needs will be defined during project preparation.
The component will also include studies that address major problems in Hai Basin. The studies to be included will be determined during project preparation, but could include the development of policies and strategies for: (a) integrated institutional mechanisms for water and environment management in the Hai Basin; (b) determining the water environment sustainable capacity for different reaches and water bodies; (c) determining targets for control of the gross amount of pollutants for different reaches and water bodies; (d) industrial structural adjustments; (e) integrated utilization of water and specifically how to guarantee adequate water for ecological purposes; (f) wastewater discharge licensing systems and penalization of polluters; (g) bulk water pricing; (h) countermeasures for protection and management of the water ecological system of river courses and wetlands; (i) establishing and maintaining safe drinking water quality zones; (j) evaluation and sustainable management of groundwater; (k) wastewater reuse; (l) municipal, industrial and agriculture water conservation; and (m) flood and drought management. A consolidated report on integrated water and environment management incorporating aspects of the above would also be produced. These studies will help to identify appropriate approaches for improving water and environment management in the Hai Basin and will also help to identify and prioritize management actions and investment needs that will serve as a reference for the Chinese Government and the international donor community.
Component 2: Water Resources Integrated Utilization and Water Pollution Prevention Demonstration in a Key Sub-Basin
During project preparation a sub-basin of the Hai Basin will be selected for an integrated water resources utilization and water pollution prevention demonstration project. The sub-basin selected should have crucial problems related to water resources and the water environment. Addressing and solving these problems will in itself improve the water utilization and water environment in the Hai Basin, and in addition will provide a demonstration for carrying out similar programs in the rest of the Basin and elsewhere in China. In accordance with the Hai River Plan mentioned above, the whole basin is divided into 9 planning zones. Namely: (a) the Luan River and Jidong Coastal planning zone; (b) the Beisan River and Yongding River planning zone; (c) the Yongding River planning zone; (d) the Daqaing River planning zone; (e) the Ziya River planning zone; (f) the Zhang Wei Nan Canal planning zone; (g) the Tuhaimajia River planning zone; (h) the main stream of Hai River planning zone; and (i) the Heilonggang Yundong planning zone. The selection of the sub-basin will be based on whether water in the sub-basin reaches is used for drinking water (preference, yes), the present status of water quality in the different sub-basin reaches (preference, poor water quality), the present gross amount of pollutant discharge (preference, large amounts), the control target index for gross amount of pollutant (preference, strict target), the influence of the sub-basin on the downstream environment including the Bohai Sea (preference, substantial influence). According to these principles, the sub-basin preliminarily selected would be either the Zhang Wei Nan Canal planning zone or the Guanting Reservoir and its upstream catchment area.
With the objective of addressing key problems in the selected sub-basin, an integrated program and implementation plan will be developed for water resources utilization and pollution control, including institutional mechanisms for integrated management, industrial structural adjustments, integrated utilization of water resources, wastewater reuse, institutional development, emergency systems and ecological environment rehabilitation. Following completion of the program and implementation plan, activities will be selected for implementation under the project which will serve as a demonstration for other areas. The implementation of these activities will be carried out with the participation of the various existing institutional entities and will include the participation of several counties in the sub-basin.
Component 3. Integrated Management of Water and Water Environment in Selected Counties.
This component would support integrated water and environment management in about 10 selected counties in Beijing Municipalities and Hebei Province. Preference would be given to counties included in the FY01 Bank-financed Water Conservation Project and where possible to counties that are located in small tertiary tributary systems or long groundwater flow units within the Hai Basin that include one or several counties. The selection of the counties should also be based on the seriousness of the water problems in the counties and on there being a reasonable hydrografic sub-zone for study purposes. The component would support preparation of an Integrated water and environment plan (IWEP) to help to improve and implement a set of policies, and legal, administrative and institutional instruments for county-level integrated water and environment management, including the development of institutional mechanisms for integrated management, definition of management objectives, information exchange and definition of investment needs, and surface and groundwater management including both quantity and quality aspects. The component will also develop capacity building for integrated water and environment management. Based on the IWEP, the component would also fund the implementation of specific management activities, and pre-investment studies for innovative projects, such as water saving irrigation, integrated protection and management of small river course, agriculture non-point (surface runoff) pollution control, livestock wastewater treatment, pollution prevention and industrial pretreatment technology, hazardous waste treatment and disposal, artificial groundwater recharge, etc. Experience obtained at the county level could be extended throughout the Hai Basin to develop a water and environmental management system from the bottom-up. Extension of the experience will be along tributaries and groundwater flow units because of the need for coordinated action in regard to shared resources.
Component 4: Water and Water Environmental Management in Tianjin Municipality.
As one of the leading urban areas in China, Tianjin has a special administrative status which makes it similar in many respects to a province. The Municipality has a total population of 10 million, but only the 4 million people that live within the city boundaries of Tianjin have (or will have) adequate wastewater treatment. The component would provide partial grant financing for a program to construct wastewater treatment plants in secondary towns in Tianjin Municipality. Most of the financing for the secondary towns will be provided by the FY02 TUEP, which is also financing wastewater investments in the city of Tianjin. The small amount of GEF grant financing would be used as an incentive to encourage a first set of secondary towns to invest in wastewater treatment facilities. The Secondary Towns program is considered essential to addressing the municipality’s (and the Bohai Sea’s) water pollution problems.
The component would also facilitate the establishment of institutional coordinating mechanisms for integrated water and environmental management and support the formulation of a Municipal Integrated Water and Environmental Management Plan (IWEP). The IWEP would develop programs for: i) water quality management and pollution control, including: wastewater planning for secondary towns, industrial wastewater, and agricultural pollution; ii) treated wastewater reuse; and iii) groundwater management. Based on the IWEP, the component would also fund the implementation of specific management activities, and pre-investment studies for innovative projects, such as additional small city wastewater treatment plants,artificial groundwater recharge, livestock wastewater treatment, pollution prevention and industrial pretreatment technology, hazardous waste treatment and disposal, irrigation water conservation, etc. Since Tianjin is the area directly bordering the Bohai Sea in the Hai Basin, any pollution control activities will have a direct beneficial impact on coastal water quality.
Component 5. Capacity Building of State Water Resources and Water Environment Management
The component would support the development of policy, and help to define legal, administrative and institutional mechanisms and instruments for integrated water and environment management. The component would provide support to MWR and SEPA to establish policy, mechanisms and instruments for improved water and water environmental management at the basin, provincial/municipal and county level. Examples of potential activities include policy framework of integrated management of water utilization and water pollution prevention, guidelines for water and water environment management, improving national standards on wastewater reuse, establishment of sound data management and monitoring processes and procedures, etc.
The preliminary project cost, which would be refined during preparation, is shown in Table 1:
Table 1: Preliminary Project Cost Table
|
Component |
Finance Source and Amount (US$) |
Component Total (US$) |
| 1. Hai Basin |
GEF-$6.5 m |
$9 m |
|
National and Provincial Governments-$2.5 m |
||
| 2.Key Basin |
GEF-$2m National and Provincial Governents-$3m |
$5m |
|
3. Small Basins |
GEF-$4.5 m |
$7 m |
|
County Governments-$32.5m |
||
| 4. Tianjin |
GEF-$7m |
$39 m |
|
Secondary Towns |
GEF-$5 million |
|
|
Towns/TUEP-$30 million |
||
|
IWEP |
GEF-$2 million |
|
|
Municipal Government-$2 m |
||
| 5. Central |
GEF-$1 m |
$2 m |
|
National Governments-$1 m |
||
|
Total Costs and Financing |
GEF |
$17 m |
|
Government (all levels) |
$45m | |
|
Total Project Cost |
$62 m |
Note: Costs associated with the WCP, which are under Component 2, are not included in the financing table. Financing for the secondary towns will also partially be provided by the TUEP.
The project framework for, including preparation activities, are presented in Table 2
There will be a Project Leading Group consisting of high level representatives from the following agencies:
· Ministry of Finance(MOF)
· Ministry of Water Resources (MWR)
· State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)
· Ministry of Construction (MOC)
· Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
· Beijing Municipality
· Tianjin Municipality
· Hebei Province
· Hai River Basin Commission (under the MWR)
MOF will play the role of general project coordinator. Project preparation activities will be managed by an MOF-MWR-SEPA Coordination Unit. Two PMOs will be established: one in the CPMO of the Water Conservation Project of MWR; and one in the CWCP of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office (FECO) of SEPA, respectively for routine managing and operation work. The Coordination Unit and PMOs will be responsible for central coordination and Hai Basin level activities as well as for overall coordination to the municipal/provincial and county levels. PMOs will also be established in Tianjin and Beijing Municipalities and in Hebei Provinces, as well as in counties involved in the Project. The World Bank will provide funds to one special account. The Coordination Unit will distribute funds to five locally administered special accounts by the PMOs in MWR, SEPA, Tianjin, Beijing and Hebei.
15. Description of Proposed PDF Activities
Consultations will also be held, through the Project Leading Group, with agencies active in environmental management of the Bohai Sea. The World Bank will work with the MOF-MWR-SEPA coordination unit to ensure collaboration with on-going GEF-financed projects such as the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) and the Yellow Sea Large Marine Eco-System Project. The World Bank will also establish linkages with PEMSEA and UNDP to ensure information exchange and collaboration on efforts to improve the environment of the Bohai Sea.
The specific PDF activities are described below:
Component 1: Hai River Basin
The PDF grant will finance consultants to help formulate an action plan for improved Knowledge Management (KM) and TORs for Strategic Action plans at the Basin level.
Currently, there are many different agencies collecting water-related information, often in an uncoordinated manner and without sharing the information. In a similar fashion, there are many research institutes and agencies involved in various modeling activities. A critical first step is to inventory existing data collection and analysis efforts, and assess how the knowledge is being used to support water and environmental management. Consultants will then work with the Hai River Basin Commission to identify and develop specific KM activities, such as a basin-wide water quality monitoring and modeling systems, including a coastal water quality model; basin-wide network of flow monitoring stations coupled with a simulation model for real-time reservoir management and water allocation; regional groundwater models; GIS mapping; satellite imagery for improved resources management, etc. An action plan, procurement packages, and TORs for consulting services for improved KM, which will be financed under the project, will developed through the PDF grant.
The consultants will also work with the Hai River Basin Commission and SEPA to identify and draft TORs for priority thematic studies/strategic plans at the basin level.
The PDF grant will finance consultants to help develop the TOR for development of the program and implementation plan for integrated water utilization and for water pollution prevention that will be the basis for a demonstration project in a key sub-basin. Expert assistance, both international and national, is necessary to help government agencies and stakeholders on a number of issues. Consultants will help stakeholders and government agencies pull together disparate information and planning activities, and help identify key issue areas. The consultants will also introduce state-of-the art methodologies for the IWEP.
Component 3: Beijing and Hebei Counties
The PDF grant will finance consultants to help develop the TOR for integrated management planning of water and water environment at county level. Expert assistance, both international and national, is necessary to help government agencies and stakeholders on a number of issues. Consultants will help stakeholders and government agencies pull together disparate information and planning activities, and help identify key issue areas. The consultants will also introduce state-of-the art methodologies for the IWEP.
Component 4: Tianjin
The PDF grant will finance consultants to help develop the TOR for consulting services for the Tianjin IWEP, which will be formulated during project implementation. Expert assistance, both international and national, is necessary to help government agencies and stakeholders on a number of issues. Consultants will help stakeholders and government agencies pull together disparate information and planning activities, and help identify key issue areas. The consultants will also introduce state-of-the art methodologies for the IWEP.
The preparation of feasibility studies for the wastewater treatment plants in secondary cities will be covered under the preparation activities for the Bank-financed Tianjin Urban Environment Project.
The PDF grant will finance the preparation of TORs for central-level policy and strategic studies related integrated water and environment management.
Project Implementation Plan
A Project Implementation Plan” (PIP) will be developed by the MOF-MWR-SEPA Coordination Unit. The PIP will provide a foundation for the World Bank project appraisal document (PAD) and the GEF Project Document. The PIP will lay out management and implementation arrangements; a schedule using a GANTT chart showing tendering and construction schedule, milestones, and project indicators; procurement packages specifying amounts and procurement methods in accordance with Bank guidelines; TORs for consulting services during implementation; and any other relevant issues critical for successful project implementation.
16. PDF Block B Outputs
The specific PDF/project preparation outputs during project preparation are presented below, by component. Cost estimates for each activity are presented in Table 3 at the end of the proposal:
Ø Component 1: Hai River Basin
a. Action Plan, Procurement Packages, Consultant TORs for KM Upgrades
b. TORs for Hai Basin policy and strategy studies
c. Review and recommendations on institutional management and development arrangements
a. Definition of key basin
b. TOR for preparation of program and implementation plan
c. Review and recommendations on institutional management and development arrangements
a. TORs for about 10 (to-be selected) County IWEPs.
b. Review and recommendations on institutional management and development arrangements
a. Feasibility Studies for Secondary Towns WWTP (Financed under TUEP)
b. TOR for the Tianjin Municipal IWEP
c. Review and recommendations on institutional management and development arrangements
Ø Component 5: Central
a. Institutional Design Options Study at the county, municipal (Tianjin), and Hai basin levels
b. TORs for central level policy and strategy studies
c. Project Implementation Plan (PIP)
17. Eligibility
The proposed project falls under the GEF International Waters Focal Area, and specifically under Operational Program Number 10: Contaminant-Based Program. The project has direct relevance for the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based activities. The Bohai Sea is a semi-enclosed sea with globally important ecological resources that provide significant fishery benefits to China, North and South Korea, and Japan. The primary objective of the project is to catalyze a more integrated approach to water resources management in the Hai Basin in order to improve the Bohai Sea environment, particularly by reducing water pollution from secondary towns which flows directly into the Bohai Sea. The project would also consider the need for environmental flows in rivers, flood plains, wetlands, and into coastal and estuary waters. The integrated framework would allow better understanding of important surface-subsurface and water quality interactions, and facilitate important new management approaches. Consistent with Par. 10.5 for OP 10, the project will 損lay a catalytic role in demonstrating ways to overcome barriers to the adoption of best practices limiting contamination of international waters.” OP 10 is also the only International Waters program which does not require the project to be tied to a multi-country collaborative effort. The global benefits are the improvements of the Bohai Sea coastal and marine environment, and the demonstration-dissemination-replication nation-wide and region-wide of compliance with the GPA. Close cooperation with on-going GEF-financed efforts such as the Yellow Sea and PEMSEA/Bohai Sea project will be maintained during project implementation, and specific operational linkages will be developed during project preparation.
18. National Level Support
The Chinese government, at all levels, is committed to improving the ecological health of its coastal waters and better management of its water resources. An important policy milestone was reached in July, 2000 when the representatives from the State Oceanic Administration and the coastal provinces/municipalities signed the Bohai Declaration” which outlines the principles and objectives for saving the Bohai, and commits their agencies to specific actions to achieve these goals. In 1999 the Marine Environmental Protection Law (MEPL) was amended to better protect and improve the marine environment, conserve marine resources, abate pollution, and ensure sustainable coastal and marine development. Of particular importance for the proposed project is Article 3 of the MEPL which calls total quantity control” of pollutants based on the measured carrying capacity of the coastal waters . The State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is held responsible for the prevention and control of land-based pollution that impacts the marine environment, and in 1999 introduced the Blue Sea Action Program.” The State Council has also ratified the Blue Sea Action Program” which presents a suggested investment program of around $7.2 billion for reducing land-based sources of marine pollution. State Council Circular 37 [2000] promotes the concept of integrated water resources management, water pollution control, and water conservation. Finally, both the 9th [1995-2000] and 10th [2000-2005] National Five Year Plans agreed by multiple ministries stress the need for integrated water and environmental management, with the Hai Basin identified as the highest priority. The Hai River Plan was formulated by SEPA and approved by the State Concil in 1999 for water protection and water pollution prevention in basin and to provide a basis for integrated management of water and water environment in Hai River Basin. In July of 2000, State Ocean Bureau and representatives from coastal cities signed “Bohai Declaration”, which proposed principle and objectives to save Bohai Sea and guarantees to take specific measures to reach these objectives.
19. Justification for the PDF Grant
The proposed GEF-project addresses an important missing link in efforts to improve the Bohai Sea Environment. Other GEF and Chinese initiatives are addressing the marine and coastal issues (PEMSEA and the Yellow Sea Marine Ecosystem Project). Large Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Tianjin, often with partial World Bank financing, are beginning to construct wastewater treatment systems to reduce land-based sources of pollution into the Bohai Sea. The proposed project will complement these efforts by financing pilot activities to control pollution for secondary towns and rural areas, and develop a framework for comprehensive management. More than half of the pollutant loading into the Bohai Sea comes from secondary towns and rural areas. Consistent with Par. 10.5 for GEF Operational Programme 10, the project will 損lay a catalytic role in demonstrating ways to overcome barriers to the adoption of best practices limiting contamination of international waters.” The general approach taken will be to develop an integrated water resources management framework, which deals with water scarcity, groundwater mining, and water pollution. Management improvements will take place from the bottom-up with pilot counties, at the middle administrative levels through Tianjin, and from the top-down at the basin and national levels. While developing this comprehensive framework, the proposed project also finances specific pollution control measures in secondary towns to provide immediate benefits to the Bohai Sea.
The PDF-B grant is necessary to refine the proposed scope of work for the project, and expedite the preparation of a complex multi-dimensional project. The PDF will finance consultancy services to assist the various government agencies to prepare specific work programs for each of the four components. There will be extensive consultations with a broad array of stakeholders, which will be financed mainly from government in-kind contributions. The PDF grant will help energize the process of developing a integrated water resources management framework for the Hai Basin at all levels, and ultimately tackle the problem of contamination of the Bohai Sea from secondary towns and rural areas.
20. Timetable
Project preparation activities will begin after the endorsement letter is sent to the Bank by the Chinese GEF Focal Point in MOF. Preparation will take approximately 10 months. The Project would be presented to the GEF Council in August 2003 and to the World Bank Board shortly afterwards. It is estimated that the grant would be effective by February 2004.
The total budget of this PDF-B project is $350,000, please see in attached table. All budget expenditure will be disbursed through Coordination Unit. The World Bank will responsible for recommending international specialists and will agree with the Coordination Unit on selection. The Coordination Unit is responsible for employment of domestic specialist and supervision of working performance of specialist both home and abroad. In addition, Consultations at all levels will be financed by in-kind government contributions.
Douglas OlsonQ:\ltback\Personal\Watersavf\GEF\GEF PDF-B June 2002 Version 2.doc
May 30, 2002 6:31 PM
[1] The Hai Basin is also a Chinese hydrographic unit which includes the Hai river system, and a number of smaller river systems covering another 100,000 km2 to the south which also drain into the Bohai Sea. There are a number of aquifer and canal connections between the Hai River system and the other smaller river systems, thus complicating the definition of the “Hai Basin.” The geographical scope of the project will be determined during project preparation.