Enviornmental impact assessment for island access and jetty construction project in Fehendhoo, Baa. Atoll

Abstract

1. The proponent of B. Fehendhoo Island access and Jetty development project is the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure (MHI). The Ministry is the government’s responsible body for the development and regulate the housing and infrastructure of the country. Maldives Road Development Cooperation (MRDC) has been contracted to undertake the jetty and access channel construction work in B. Fehendhoo. 2. Two freelance EIA consultants has been contracted through public bidding process to provide preparation services of an Environmental Impact Study (EIA) by (MHI) for the jetty and access channel construction work project in B. Fehendhoo Island. 3. The assessment addresses specific key issues stated in the Terms of Reference (ToR) as agreed between EPA and the Proponent following the scoping meeting held on the matter. 4. The island community constructed a Jetty and an access channel in B. Fehendhoo in early 2010 on the northern side of the island. They have always been using the northern side to access the island. Access from the southern side is extremely rough and far from the remaining islands in B. Atoll. Even though an access channel through the reef flat has been developed, island access issue has never been solved as the lagoon on the northern side is very shallow covered with thick seagrass which is exposed at low tide also the approach channel exposed to strong swells particularly during the onset of SW Monsoon. Due to this, boats and Dhonies that carry goods and people (island and atoll ferries) don’t access Fehendhoo directly. They usually dock at the harbour in Goidhoo, then people and goods are transported to Fehendhoo is small Dinghy’s through the manually deepened pathways in the lagoon. 5. The need for an access for the island has been recognised by the government and decided to develop a jetty and cut an access channel on the northern side to provide safe access for the vessels operating to and from B. Fehendhoo Island. 6. The study investigates impacts associated with the channel dredging and jetty construction of B. Fehendhoo and areas for disposal of dredged material. The proposed access channel will have a width of 24m and a length of 417m and the entrance channel which will be cut through the reef into the ocean ward will lead to a small rectangular shaped dredged area (harbour basin ) 40m wide and 40m long, for vessel turning and temporary mooring purposes. The proposed mooring basin and the access channel will be dredged to maintain an average depth of -3m with respect to the MSL. A total of approximately 28280m3 of dredged material is expected to be produced. This material will be used for jetty backfill and the excess will be used for the nourishment of the beach on the northern coast of the island which at present is undergoing severe erosion. 7. Main focus this reports is to document the general baseline condition surrounding island and particularly the proposed area for channel dredging and jetty construction. The following studies have been carried out as part of this assessment. a. Assessment of the marine and coastal species and habitats in surrounding impact areas. b. Coastal beach profiles to set baseline conditions of coastal processes. EIA for B. Fehendhoo island access & Jetty Project | Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure | July 2017 Page 13 of 76 c. Wave and shoreline assessment study to evaluate the potential for the proposed channel dredging and jetty construction to impact adjacent shorelines. d. Climatic and oceanographic conditions of the project site. 8. Findings from the environmental studies are summarized as follows; a. Access to the island is extremely difficult from the southern side sea roughness and long distance from the remaining islands in B. Atoll. b. Northern side is very shallow covered with thick seagrass which is exposed at low tide c. Approach channel exposed to strong swells particularly during the onset of SW Monsoon. d. Due to this, boats and Dhonies that carry goods and people (island and atoll ferries) don’t access Fehendhoo directly. They usually dock at the harbour in Goidhoo, then people and goods are transported to Fehendhoo is small Dinghy’s through the manually deepened pathways in the lagoon. e. Fehendhoo probably is the only island without a primary school. At present there are primary 12 students in Fehendhoo who are attending the Primary school in Goidhoo located two Kilometres west. Students and their parents commute between the Goidhoo and Fehendhoo twice a day on small Dinghies. 9. This EIA has been carried out on the basis that it is necessary to carry out the jetty construction and island access project at the northern side of B. Fehendhoo to facilitate socioeconomic development and easy access to the island. 10. During the preparation of the EIA report an impact matrix, which is a standard tool for identifying the possible impacts of project activities, has been created for proposed development project in B. Fehendhoo Island. The activities carried out during the construction and post-construction or operational phases are arrayed against a selection of environmental factors that may be affected directly or indirectly as a result of project activities. 11. The environmental impact assessment study shows there are two main activities that would cause minor to moderate negative environmental impacts. Those, in order of minor to moderate impact, are: 1. Channel and mooring basin dredging 2. Jetty construction and backfilling 12. Of these a long term impact would be from dredging and beach backfilling of jetty area and nourishment of Kattihuraa at the East of entrance channel and the excess to replenish the eroding areas on the northern side of the island. These impacts would be cumulative occurring over long period of time and so can be managed through proper monitoring and addressing them in a timely manner. Based on the scale of dredging and beach nourishment work projects that is taking place in Maldives, impacts associated with the proposed dredging activity is insignificant. The positive socio economic impacts from the proposed development outweigh the temporary negative impacts of dredging. 13. The study has evaluated alternative locations for the jetty and suggested shifting the jetty 20m east of the existing one for the convenience of the island community. Even though there is no significant impact from this project particularly with the recommended T-jetty construction, EIA for B. Fehendhoo island access & Jetty Project | Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure | July 2017 Page 14 of 76 the report has come-up with an extensive monitoring programme that will keep on monitoring coastal and marine environmental changes associated with the development to make necessary adjustment based on the findings of various measured environmental parameters suggested in the monitoring plan. 14. Therefore, on the basis of this environmental impact assessment study and the impact mitigation measures in the report will be duly implemented, it is concluded that the benefits of island access development project in B. Fehendhoo will substantially outweigh its imposition on the environment.