Eritrea - Supplementary Funding for the Groundwater Assessment, Aquifer Mapping and Well Development Project

The proposed operation concerns a grant amounting to UA 511,573.00 from the resources of the TSF Pillar 1 as Supplementary Funding for the Groundwater Assessment, Aquifer Mapping and Well Development project (GWAAMWD) in Eritrea. The GWAAMWD project was approved by the Bank on 18 November 2016. It was designed to prepare ground for an investment operation, the Resilient Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Support Project for Rural Communities - RWSISPRC, to be implemented in the subsequent planning phase. The project comprises consultancy services for hydrogeological survey, geophysical investigations, and aquifer mapping within ninety (90) village communities in rural Eritrea. At estimated population of at least 129,000 people living within the 90 rural communities which the project targets have the lowest access levels to water supply in the country. The project will develop thirteen (13) production wells within identified priority locations and provide maps for groundwater resources within the targeted 90 village communities. It will additionally assess the viability of the existing water management system including the tariff structure, the operations and maintenance practices in order to secure sustainable operations of the investment project to be implemented in the ensuing phase.