The environmental impact assessment of drainage systems: a case study of the Karun river sugarcane development project

Abstract

ABSTRACTSaline water can be drained from the plant root zone by developing a drainage network; therefore, the lack of control strategies for soil salinity and the subsurface water level will result in high salinity and nutrient concentrations. In large drainage systems, this issue becomes more important due to the large amount of water drained into the environment. Therefore, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) should be conducted before undertaking such developments. Due to the importance of wetlands that may be affected by the sugar cane fields located in Khuzestan Province in Southern Iran, the EIA process was implemented to evaluate this project. Three scenarios of a pre-drainage system development, drainage system development without management issues, and drainage system development with management issues are considered to help reduce the amount of water drained and protect the wetland. The scaling weighting checklist method was used to categorize the data and to ensure that no potential influence was overestimated. The results show the necessity of the application of management practices and drainage system development to protect the Shadegan International Wetland. Development of the project in its current condition is not recommended. Applying wastewater management, including cultivating salinity-resistant plants, is recommended as the most effective method.