This section provides a stepwise technical approach to preparing a plan for developing drinking water and wastewater treatment systems in the Siret River Basin in Romania. It was prepared by the author as part of a Definitional Mission funded by a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency.

Objective and Scope

As Romania seeks to comply with European Union (EU) regulations, the country must adopt a comprehensive water management policy known as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).  The WFD became effective December 22, 2000, and aims to expand the scope of water protection to all waters, surface waters, and groundwater.  Within the WFD, the EU outlines a model for a single system of water management based on a river basin management system.  The river basin is a natural geographical and hydrological unit that brings together upstream and downstream interests, including local, regional, and national authorities, as well as NGOs and other stakeholders.  Each EU member state must identify individual river basins and assign them to individual river basin districts.  For each river basin district, some of which traverse national frontiers, a “river basin management plan” will need to be established and updated every 6 years.  

Romania has adopted the river basin management approach to water management within the WFD.  The Government of Romania (GOR) has identified the Siret River Basin as the first area of priority to try and implement the WFD, as it is the largest river basin in Romania located in the northeast section of the country adjacent to Moldova.  The Siret River Basin is a semi-arid area with water shortages and difficulties in maintaining water supply during certain periods each year.  Only about 1.2 million of the 2.6 million inhabitants, or 45% of the total population benefit from centralized water supply systems.  Nearly 30 Siret River Basin municipalities require modernization, improvement, rehabilitation, or expansion of their drinking water and wastewater treatment systems.  Therefore, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the Siret River Basin will be the largest project in Romania’s water sector.  

The proposed feasibility study is a pilot project whose objective is to examine up to four municipalities in the Siret River Basin and design a solution to improve existing or develop new drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities.  These four localities, to be identified by the Grantee, are small to medium-sized localities, which are not eligible or likely to receive EU financing.   The four municipalities will represent the most common drinking water and wastewater planning situations in the river basin from the perspectives of population, pollution dischargers, watershed, receiving stream, and existing infrastructure characteristics.  The Study will address the following tasks:

Task 1 – Conduct Technical Analysis

Subtask 1.1 – Mobilize Project.  The Contractor shall conduct an initial mobilization visit to Romania to hold the project kick-off meeting and prepare a work plan addressing the following topics:  EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the accession requirements, related water planning and management projects in Romania, project challenges and objectives, river basin planning methodologies, selection of pilot localities, and how to design an effective public consultation program.

Subtask 1.2 – Collect and Review Existing Information.  Review available, existing information collected by the Grantee for the pilot localities and entire Siret River Basin planning area relating to the following (either existing or projected):  natural characteristics such as geology, soils, floodplains, etc.; human characteristics such as population, land use, and zoning; water quality and related public health problems; water resources plans and waste load allocations; water distribution and sewage collection networks (coverage, capacities, inflow and infiltration problems, bypasses or overflows, combined sewers and pump stations); and drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities (designs, capacities, conditions, influent and effluent qualities and quantities, operation and maintenance, performance and compliance).

Subtask 1.3 – Analyze Existing Information.  The Contractor shall review the steps taken by the Grantee at the Siret River Basin level to select up to four (4) pilot localities and repeat those steps at the pilot locality level.  Those steps include:  determining critical areas or “hot spots”, such as those already degraded areas not meeting current or projected Romanian or EU WFD water quality requirements, areas with poor drinking water service or quality, and areas with important water quality-related values that are vulnerable to increased pollution loads.  The Contractor shall also prioritize and document opportunities and constraints, as well as refine project objectives, determine the availability of information on water quality, water quality standards, waste load allocations, effluent limits, pollution discharges, and network and treatment facilities design, operation, condition, and effectiveness.

Subtask 1.4 – Design Water Monitoring and Data Management Systems for Pilots.  Based on the analysis of existing data, identified hot spots, priorities, and refined objectives for the pilot localities, the Contractor shall develop a plan to fill existing data gaps; outline a short-term surface and groundwater quantity and quality monitoring plan to be implemented by the Grantee to confirm hot spots and provide a basis for utilizing or developing drinking water supplies and allocating waste loads from point and non-point sources; and design and implement a simple computer system to store, manage and display pilot data.

Subtask 1.5 – Prepare Drinking Water Resource Plans for Pilots.  The Contractor shall review available, existing information collected by the Grantee on the existing and projected water quality and quantity for the pilot localities.  The Contractor shall prepare general, time-phased plans for future drinking water supplies for each municipality, including the appropriate disposition of existing drinking water resources; levels of treatment required to meet EU drinking water quality standards for each drinking water source in each municipality; and the general extent of water transmission and distribution network rehabilitation and/or expansion needed to provide service in each municipality.

Subtask 1.6 – Review and Refine Waste Load Allocations and Effluent Limits for Pilots.  Review available, existing information collected by the Grantee from the short-term surface and groundwater quality monitoring program, and refine existing waste load allocations and effluent limits, taking into account for each water body in the pilot localities:  current and projected EU water quality standards; designated uses; maximum waste loads per unit time for each pollutant; contribution of different categories of point and non-point sources to the existing and projected water quality; appropriate waste load allocations for point and non-point sources considering load locations relative to existing impairment zones; tools that should be utilized to achieve the waste load allocations for each category of point and non-point sources; and appropriate effluent limits for each major point source considering water quality-based limits and technology-based limits.

Subtask 1.7 – Determine Drinking Water and Wastewater Management Measures.  Based on the drinking water resources plan and waste load allocations and effluent limits provided and/or developed by the Grantee in Subtasks 1.5 and 1.6 above, select and evaluate quantity and quality management alternatives for the four pilot localities relating to drinking water, wastewater point sources, and wastewater non-point sources.

Task 2 – Conduct Economic Analysis

Using published algorithms, the Contractor shall develop typical cost estimates for each type of infrastructure facility (e.g., drinking water, wastewater, networks) at each local population category or flow volume interval.  The Contractor shall calculate total investment costs for each pilot locality and the overall pilot project, and then extrapolate these costs to the overall Siret River Basin Project.  In particular, the Contractor shall prepare a present worth cost analysis of each alternative considered for the entire 20-year planning period and any component timeframes.  Costs should include design, equipment, construction, and operation and maintenance costs.  The Contractor shall conduct an economic analysis of selected options for achieving the same or similar host country objectives, including a present worth cost analysis of each alternative considered for the planning period.  

Task 3 – Conduct Financial Analysis

The Contractor shall conduct a financial analysis of the most promising options; evaluate co-financing and affordability issues; perform sensitivity analysis of the financial estimates; prepare a cash management analysis; calculate the financial internal rate of return; analyze the investment risk; summarize the financial analysis; evaluate project financing alternatives; develop a project ownership structure and investment plan; and identify and review financing sources. 

Task 4 – Conduct Environmental Analysis

The Contractor shall determine the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project, including those that are unavoidable or irreversible; describe the impacts quantitatively in terms of environmental costs and benefits and assign economic values wherever possible.  The Contractor shall also develop an environmental management plan recommending feasible and cost-effective measures to prevent or reduce significant negative impacts to acceptable levels; identifying the associated institutional, training, and other support services; and estimating the time and money required to implement the mitigating measures.

Task 5 – Review Regulatory Issues

The Contractor shall review and describe the pertinent regulations and standards governing environmental quality, pollutant discharges to surface waters and land, industrial discharges to public sewers, water reclamation, and reuse, agricultural and landscape use of sludge, health and safety, protection of sensitive areas, protection of endangered species, siting, land use control, etc., at the international, national, regional and local levels.  The Contractor shall provide recommendations for any improvements to existing or planned water management laws and regulations needed for accession to the EU legal and regulatory framework.

Task 6 – Conduct Developmental Impact Analysis

The Contractor shall report on the potential developmental impact of the project in the host country.  The Contractor should focus on what the economic development outcomes will be if the project is implemented according to the study recommendations.  The analysis of the potential benefits of the Contractor should be as concrete and detailed as possible.  Specifically, the Contractor shall provide estimates of the project’s potential impacts in the following areas: infrastructure and security; market-oriented reform; human capacity building; technology transfer and productivity enhancement; and any other developmental benefits to the project, including any spin-off or demonstration effects.

Task 7 – List Proposed Equipment for Project Implementation

The Contractor shall prepare a list of proposed equipment and identify prospective US sources of supply in sufficient detail to use in preparing project tender documents.  It is the Contractor’s responsibility to include the list of U.S. Sources of Supply in the Final Report to be submitted to USTDA in accordance with Clause I of Annex II of the Grant Agreement.  

Task 8 – Develop an Implementation Plan

The Contractor shall prepare an implementation plan that will provide specific recommendations for project implementation, as well as an action plan for the next steps that should be taken to implement the project.  The action plan should specify for each step the priority, parties responsible, schedule, budget, and staff requirements.  The implementation plan should include the following components:  drinking water facilities plan; point sources control facilities plan; non-point and non-wastewater sources control plan; regulatory program; institutional program; resources and financing plan; implementation schedule; impact analysis; and monitoring and evaluation program.

Task 9 – Prepare Final Report

Upon completion of the evaluation, the Contractor shall prepare a substantive and comprehensive Final Report based on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of all the tasks above.  The Final Report must contain all deliverables outlined in Tasks 1-8, not summary documents.  Four (4) copies of the report, in English, should be submitted to the Grantee and USTDA.