Temperature - European Investment Bank

WEST AFRICAN POWER POOL (WAPP) PÖYRY ENERGY LTD.
Mount Coffee HPP ESIA and RAP 2012-09-18
ESIA Report Page E
situation with reservoir functioning from 1970 and 1990 have provided more fish to the
population than currently, and the refection is positively awaited by all fishers.
The rehabilitation of the dam and the re-creation of the reservoir will change the
situation. As is known form many other examples of man-made lakes, diversity will
locally decrease, given the fact that a number of fish species adapted to or depending on
river conditions will disappear from the reservoir area (increase of species such as
tilapia and African catfishes and decrease of species like Barbus sp., Labeo sp.). On the
other hand, the reservoir itself will have a high productivity, since a limited number of
species will find suitable conditions there. Fish catches will therefore increase. A surge
in fish productivity could also attract fishermen from other areas. With the dam
rehabilitated, annual potential production estimates stands at 1,340 tons that is 1.4 times
current production. This increase, if well managed may generate, in addition of new
fishers (30 professional fishermen may find full occupation within the reservoir), many
side jobs with fishing gears manufacture, fish transformation and commercialization. In
order to be able to observe the development, and to introduce, if required, a proper
fisheries management program in the reservoir, it is recommended to carry out a
thorough fish monitoring program in cooperation with the Fishery Bureau throughout
the construction period, and well into the operation phase of the power plant.
The topic of Chapter 12, impact on protected areas, is also related to biodiversity issues.
Protected areas of Liberia are indicated. No such area will be affected by Mt. Coffee
HPP.
The next main section of the report deals with the human environment of the area. A
short and, at this point in time, still rather preliminary description of the situation is
provided. This will then be expanded in the RAP.
A number of settlements are located in the wider project area. During the initial phase of
work on the ESIA, it was assumed that only very few, if any, resettlement (in the sense
of actual physical relocation of houses and their inhabitants) would be required, since
the area had been under water until 20 years ago. On the other hand, it was quite
obvious from the beginning that cultivated land would be affected. This second point
was confirmed during field work. However, field work also revealed the presence of a
number of settlements within the area to be submerged, and obviously these will have to
be relocated before impoundment. In part, these are people who lived in these sites
before the construction of the original Mt. Coffee dam, were then resettled and
subsequently moved back to their original village location after the breaching of the
dam. So far, the presence of 107 HH with a total of 382 persons in 6 settlements has
been identified to be in this situation. Obviously, they also have all or part of their fields
within the area to be submerged. In addition, HH from surrounding villages also
cultivate land in this area. Overall, it can be said that resettlement and compensation
will be required, however, that it is not a very big issue due to the limited number of
affected people. The aspects of local human population and land use are described in
Chapters 13 and 14. The details of this will be dealt with in the RAP, which will have to
be developed as a separate document.
However, one major problem has been identified during the field work: given the local
topography, consisting of rather smooth, albeit partly quite marked hills covered with
high an dense vegetation make it difficult, not to say impossible, to determine in the
field exactly what will be within the reservoir and what will not. GPS localisation was
used, but this is not precise enough in terms of elevation. Therefore, it is strongly