ABSTRACT
Early practices in project assessment were limited and oen based on technical feasibility studies and cost-benet analysis. Until recently, environmental factors were not taken into consideration while examining the viability of a project. e
growing number of cases globally of adverse environmental consequences as a result of interactions between socioeconomic and industrial development activities led to a serious rethinking that environmental consequences have to be explicitly considered in the decision-making process. It is therefore expedient that Earth’s natural resources need to be conserved and utilized
20.2 Principles and Objectives of EIA .......................................................................................... 234 Principles of an EIA Study • Objectives of EIA Study
20.5 Discussion .................................................................................................................................239 20.6 Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................................... 240 References ............................................................................................................................................ 240
Preface Water is a precious and increasingly scarce resource, essential for both ecosystems and humans. Current global water needs rise due to several factors, which include population growth in areas with low freshwater resources and the resulting increase in water consumption. Pollution of surface water and groundwater and long-term changes in the hydrological cycle due to climate change underpin the requirement for water reuse. Although water reuse strategies are intended to address problems of water scarcity, this should not come at the price of increasing other environmental impacts because water reuse and reclamation technologies including wastewater treatment plants, drinking water treatment plants, desalination, and constructed wetlands are projects with environmental implications and the issue of water reuse may have transboundary implications. Environmental impact assessments (EIA) are inevitable and compulsory.
