A procedure for environmental impact assessments (EIA) for seawater desalination plants

lThe proposed EIA procedure follows a minimal guideline which consists of 1) analysis of the source of impacts, 2) analysis of the impacted ecosystem, 3) definition of the links between source and targets, 4) recommendation of mitigation measures and 5) sustainability of the environmental protection measures. For step 1. the focus is on the components of the discharges into the sea where ten groups of environmentally critical substance groups are discussed. For step 2, it is pointed to an earlier subdivision of the corresponding marine ecosystem into subsystems, which are ordered according to sensitivity. Steps 3, 4, and 5 are outlined as far as it is feasible for a general treatise, which is independent of a distinct plant or region. The final claim is for the persecution and publication of serious EIA's to provide methodical and exemplary cases.