Notes SEA case studies in developing countries
Regional EA of the Argentina flood protection
 The project included:
o Construction of defence facilities
o Strengthened coordination of agencies in the flood basin
o Protection of the most important economic areas
o Institutional mechanisms to sustain flood-protection efforts
o Creation of a legal and institutional framework to deal with recurrent
floods, e.g. early flood warning systems
o Master plans for flood defence systems
 Overall aim of SEA was to identify the most relevant environmental features of
the three main rivers flood plains to understand the interaction of natural and
manmade systems, including the ecological functions of the floods. Based on
this the cumulative effects of the individual flood protection projects were
assessed.
 During the assessment it showed that the necessary data for the assessment
had to be collected from a large number of sources; in other words, it showed the
need for a central data base.
 For each of the potential investments first out of 150 possible projects, 50 were
selected because of their economic, social and environmental benefits. Then for
each of these projects, alternatives were examined in the SEA.
 The overall, regional EA contains an annex with EA’s for each project.
 The SEA showed:
o Ecosystems in the river basin depend on the interactions between floods
and natural systems; these should be conserved
o Illegal hunting; forest cutting; urban expansion and pollution of small
rivers are the main threats to the biodiversity of the flood plains
o Above all the poor living in high risk areas are influenced by floods. Also,
smaller cities have inappropriate services to deal with flooding
o Water supply, sanitation and solid waste collection are deficient in most
cities in the flood plain.
o There is no coordination among cities and agencies in the flood plain;
despite the fact that all have to deal with the same problems. Also, no
systematic EA procedures exist
o Agriculture, livestock raising and unplanned urban development are
leading to considerable deforestation and soil erosion
o Effluent discharge is leading to loss of biodiversity
o Poor urban sanitation undermine existing flood protection works
o Protected area do not provide sufficient area for ecological needs of
vertebrate fauna
o There is a lack of environmental awareness and awareness about the
consequences of floods in the region.
 PP was carried out in the form of regional seminars and local meetings. The
regional seminars resulted in consensus that structural works should
complement non-structural measures. Local meetings let to changes in project
design to ensure community acceptance, e.g. to preserve cultural heritage.
 Main conclusions of the SEA:
o Most impacts of constructing the projects would be localised and shortlived
o The cumulative impact of all projects would be much smaller than other
human pressures on the ecosystems in the flood plains
 Result of the SEA was the implementation of four programmes:
o Strengthening of EA procedures
o Technical assistance for urban environmental management in
municipalities and NGOs
o Environmental awareness programmes in communities benefiting from
protection works
o
o
Support to protection initiatives of sensitive ecosystems near urban
areas.
Sub-projects were improved in such a way that they both protected
against flooding ánd allowed as much as possible for flooding (important
for ecosystems).