Environmental Impact Assessment of a Water Transfer Project

Background: Reliable water supplies for drinking and agriculture are some of the objectives for the sustainable development of every country. However, constructed facilities such as dams and irrigation networks and drainage can exert positive and negative effects directly or indirectly on the environment. The environmental impact assessment is a method for identifying the positive and negative effects caused by a plan and suggests performance management best practices aimed at lessening the negative impacts and augmenting the positive ones. Objectives: The present study sought to evaluate the environmental impacts of the water transfer project of the Jooban Dam in two phases of preparation and operation. Materials and Methods: A checklist containing the positive, negative, short-term, and long-term effects as well as the continuation and probable occurrence of these effects was used. Results: The results showed that the negative environmental and social impacts of the project outweighed the positive impacts in terms of type, number, and intensity. Conclusions: Unless there are well-thought out strategies for minimizing the undesirable impact on the environment, it is not advisable that such projects be permitted.