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Title: Ranking of small scale proposals for water system repair using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM)

Abstract

Environmental impacts of small scale projects are often assessed poorly, or not assessed at all. This paper examines the usability of the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) as a tool to prioritize project proposals for small scale water restoration projects in relation to proposals' potential to improve the environment. The RIAM scoring system was used to assess and rank the proposals based on their environmental impacts, the costs of the projects to repair the harmful impacts, and the size of human population living around the sites. A four-member assessment group (The expert panel) gave the RIAM-scores to the proposals. The assumed impacts of the studied projects at the Eastern Finland water systems were divided into the ecological and social impacts. The more detailed assessment categories of the ecological impacts in this study were impacts on landscape, natural state, and limnology. The social impact categories were impacts to recreational use of the area, fishing, industry, population, and economy. These impacts were scored according to their geographical and social significance, their magnitude of change, their character, permanence, reversibility, and cumulativeness. The RIAM method proved to be an appropriate and recommendable method for the small-scale assessment and prioritizing of project proposals. If themore » assessments are well documented, the RIAM can be a method for easy assessing and comparison of the various kinds of projects. In the studied project proposals there were no big surprises in the results: the best ranks were received by the projects, which were assumed to return watersheds toward their original state.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22447493
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Environmental Impact Assessment Review
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 49; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0195-9255
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; EXPERT SYSTEMS; FINLAND; FISHING INDUSTRY; LIMNOLOGY; SOCIAL IMPACT; WATER

Citation Formats

Shakib-Manesh, T. E., Hirvonen, K. O., Jalava, K. J., Ålander, T., and Kuitunen, M.T., E-mail: markku.kuitunen@jyu.fi. Ranking of small scale proposals for water system repair using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM). United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1016/J.EIAR.2014.06.001.
Shakib-Manesh, T. E., Hirvonen, K. O., Jalava, K. J., Ålander, T., & Kuitunen, M.T., E-mail: markku.kuitunen@jyu.fi. Ranking of small scale proposals for water system repair using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM). United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EIAR.2014.06.001
Shakib-Manesh, T. E., Hirvonen, K. O., Jalava, K. J., Ålander, T., and Kuitunen, M.T., E-mail: markku.kuitunen@jyu.fi. 2014. "Ranking of small scale proposals for water system repair using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EIAR.2014.06.001.
@article{osti_22447493,
title = {Ranking of small scale proposals for water system repair using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM)},
author = {Shakib-Manesh, T. E. and Hirvonen, K. O. and Jalava, K. J. and Ålander, T. and Kuitunen, M.T., E-mail: markku.kuitunen@jyu.fi},
abstractNote = {Environmental impacts of small scale projects are often assessed poorly, or not assessed at all. This paper examines the usability of the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) as a tool to prioritize project proposals for small scale water restoration projects in relation to proposals' potential to improve the environment. The RIAM scoring system was used to assess and rank the proposals based on their environmental impacts, the costs of the projects to repair the harmful impacts, and the size of human population living around the sites. A four-member assessment group (The expert panel) gave the RIAM-scores to the proposals. The assumed impacts of the studied projects at the Eastern Finland water systems were divided into the ecological and social impacts. The more detailed assessment categories of the ecological impacts in this study were impacts on landscape, natural state, and limnology. The social impact categories were impacts to recreational use of the area, fishing, industry, population, and economy. These impacts were scored according to their geographical and social significance, their magnitude of change, their character, permanence, reversibility, and cumulativeness. The RIAM method proved to be an appropriate and recommendable method for the small-scale assessment and prioritizing of project proposals. If the assessments are well documented, the RIAM can be a method for easy assessing and comparison of the various kinds of projects. In the studied project proposals there were no big surprises in the results: the best ranks were received by the projects, which were assumed to return watersheds toward their original state.},
doi = {10.1016/J.EIAR.2014.06.001},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22447493}, journal = {Environmental Impact Assessment Review},
issn = {0195-9255},
number = ,
volume = 49,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}