MRC-MDBC STRATEGIC LIAISON PROGRAM BASIN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING TRAINING MODULE 2 APPLICATION OF BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Phnom Penh January 2003 Identification of Identification of Project Benefits and Impacts

Identifying Project Benefits IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Identifying Project Benefits It would be expected that when a project is proposed, it is because the proposer believes that some positive benefits will result. These expected benefits may be economic, social or environmental or a mix of these. Because the BDP is about water-related projects it is possible that these estimates can be verified by use of the DSF. This will require trying to link the benefits to water-related data.

Identifying Project Benefits IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Identifying Project Benefits An example is irrigation. Without going into technical details, the DSF can be set up to simulate water availability, and more importantly, water shortages. It therefore becomes possible through crop factors (eg m 3 /ha) and crop mean gross margins ($/ha) to compute the expected economic value of particular irrigated crops. Importantly, all the above requires a broad range of skills, knowledge and time.

Identifying Project Impacts IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Identifying Project Impacts Before identifying project impacts, it is necessary to identify what might be impacted. In Module 1, participants identified a range of basin assets for which knowledge of project impacts would be required. It is important to note that although most water- related impacts of projects can be identified through the basin asset approach, some cannot. These are impacts such as resettlement that might result from construction of a reservoir etc.

Indicators of Impacts IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Indicators of Impacts As with benefits there is a huge advantage to be gained if impacts can be linked to water-related data so that the DSF can help with analysis. Some impact indicators will be relatively simple. For example, water depth for assessing impacts on navigation. Other impact indicators, especially those relating to environmental assets, recreation and tourism etc will be difficult because the model will not directly compute them. A good example is the basin asset of fisheries:

Indirect Indicators for Impacts IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Indirect Indicators for Impacts Typical impact indicators for the health and sustainability of the fisheries would include: –changes in fish population; –changes in the mix of fish species, and so on. Clearly the DSF does not generate such data. It is necessary to find some useful, substitute water-related indicators that could be generated - eg for impacts on fish breeding, the simulation models could produce: –changes in flow patterns; –changes in frequency of floodplain inundation; etc

Development Scenario Benefits and Impacts IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Development Scenario Benefits and Impacts

Key Principles for Benefit and Impact Indicators IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS Key Principles for Benefit and Impact Indicators It makes good sense to make maximum use of DSF for generating values of selected indicators. This requires water-related indicators. Also, a BDP aim is to be able to easily compare the merits of various development scenarios. This requires indicators in common units - $ Conclusion: Only a strong partnership of planners/ experts/ modellers can develop such indicators.

The Partnership Triangle IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT BENEFITS AND IMPACTS The Partnership Triangle