Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) for Batumi Coastal Protection Project, (SUTIP 4), funded by ADB
The present report is the Initial Environmental Examination of the coastal protection works foreseen for Batumi. Purpose of the present report is the presentation of the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) as an important tool for incorporating environmental concerns at the project level.
This documentation has been prepared based upon the design solution developed by Technital SpA (Italy), with nominated Sub consultants Deltares (Netherlands) and Saunders (Georgia).
All the works foreseen to protect the coastline were classified as Environmental Category B, as per the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement,( 2009). Infrastructures under category B should not have significant irreversible or permanent negative environmental impacts during or after construction and require preparation of an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE). The IEE is therefore conducted if the project is likely to have minor or limited impacts, which can easily be predicted and evaluated, and for which mitigation measures are prescribed easily.
The present IEE provides information:
(i) about the general environmental settings of the project area as baseline data;
(ii) on potential impacts of the project and the characteristic of the impacts, magnitude, distribution, who will be the affected group, and their duration;
(iii) on potential mitigation measures to minimize the impact including mitigation costs;
and it assesses the best alternative project at most benefits and least costs in terms of financial, social, and environment.
Finally the IEE provide basic information for formulating management and monitoring plan.
This report presents the results of the IEE study. In Chapter C, is presented an overview of latest national and local legal and institutional framework within which the environmental assessment is carried out. It also identifies project-relevant international environmental agreements to which the country is a party.
In chapter D a brief description of the project is presented.
In chapter E an overview is presented of the existing natural conditions along the coast of Batumi.
In chapter F possible Socio- Environmental Impacts induced by the project (both for the construction and operational phase) are described.
Batumi is the capital of Autonomous Republic and one of the major cities on the Georgian Black Sea coast playing a significant role in economic, cultural and tourist development of the Country. Coastal improvement is one of the priorities among other infrastructural projects which will facilitate the future development of the City and region.
However, the coastline southwest of Batumi is affected by erosion over a length of about 5 km. Along this section a number of houses and cultivated land has been lost already. Without adequate protection measures coastal erosion will continue at the airport area and at Adlia (village south of Batumi) and might even affect the beaches and the coastline of Batumi. As a consequence, the investment climate for tourism development could be negatively influenced.
The main objective of the proposed coastal protection works is to protect the coast against erosion. The protective constructions, which are foreseen along the coast of Batumi will have a major impact on the coastal zone: instead of a slightly eroding coastline, the coastline between the Chorokhi River mouth and Batumi Cape will be stable.
Along the coast of Batumi, different zones are distinguished with respect to the type of coastal protection:
– a stretch about 1 km long from the treatment plant to the airport, where the beach, undergoing erosion, is protected by a revetment (already built);
– further north, a stretch about 2 km long, to be protected by revetment + nourishment (from the airport to the northern end of the seaside park);
– a stretch 300 m long, at the Batumi Cape, in the area affected by canyon instability, where a deep wall with a rock protection is proposed at the upper part of the beach (sliding protection);
– sand pitches inserted in the pattern of the boulevard, in areas where the total beach width is in excess of 80 m, for a total length of 400 m, whose aim is to preserve the original beach width, by avoiding construction of permanent structures in the upper part of the beach, hence providing “passive” protection to the beach
The evaluation of the alternatives to protect the coast against the erosion affecting the southern section of the littoral has shown that a soft intervention, featuring recirculation of the sediment between the northern section of the littoral (where it accumulates due to natural transport pattern) and the southern portion (from where it is removed due to erosion), is the most efficient way to protect and restore the beach.
Therefore, the main intervention aiming at stabilizing this portion of the Batumi coastline features an artificial nourishment in the southern portion of the littoral, just north of the airport, spread over a beach length of approximately 2,000 m, using material taken from the northern part of the coastline (where beach accretion is occurring). The modelling studies have shown that the volume of materials needed to maintain the stability of the southern part of the coastline is 20,000 m3/y.
Other interventions have also been introduced in the general scheme of the protection works, to complement the sediment bypass. They are listed here below:
· a deep wall with a superficial revetment (sliding protection) in the upper part of the beach, to protect all existing land infrastructures from geotechnical failures in the northern area, were instability has been demonstrated;
· a revetment 2 km long, in the southern portion of the coast, to be built as an extension of the existing revetment, to enhance protection along the stretch of littoral most affected by erosion;
· a strip 20 m wide of fine sandy beach, fractioned in portions with a module of 50 m length, in order to adapt to the boulevard outline, for a total length of about 400 m. Its location has been identified in areas adjacent to the boulevard where the total beach width is in excess of 80 m, and its aim is to preserve the original beach width, by avoiding construction of permanent structures in the upper part of the beach;
