The objectives of this assignment financed by the World Bank were to: (1) Assess the amount of Carbon Emission Reductions (ERs) that Tunisia's wastewater sector could achieve, focusing on the Greater Tunis, Nabeul-Hamamet, and Sousse areas, and (2) Identify potential and viable Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) wastewater projects. STELLA met with officials from the Ministry of Environment and key stakeholders involved in the wastewater sector (ONAS), and visited selected wastewater treatment plants (Choutrana, Sud-Méliane). STELLA collected relevant data on wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with a capacity of more than 18,000 people-equivalent, calculated the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) released due to the current sludge treatment practice, and assessed to what extent these emissions could be reduced. Wastewater CDM projects approved so far by the UNFCCC consist of installing anaerobic sludge digesters and flaring or using the methane produced on site. STELLA also conducted an economic and financial analysis of the potential CDM projects. We compared the economic and financial costs and benefits of anaerobic digestion projects for the six largest WWTP, based on a discounted cash flow analysis over the lifetime of the project. We calculated the Net Present Values (NPV) of each project based on expected revenues (with and without the sale of carbon credits) as well as investment and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.

As part of the Water Resources Sustainability activity (WRS), STELLA staff designed and built a wastewater treatment and reuse plant in Drarga (20,000 people) near Agadir. With technical and financial support from the WRS project team, the Municipality of Drarga has learned to operate the plant and sell treated wastewater to farmers for irrigation. The plant relies on a combination of anaerobic lagoons and sand filters. The Municipality collects sewage fees to recover all of the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs and some of the plant's capital costs. STELLA staff helped the municipality negotiate a cost-sharing agreement with Etablissement Régional d'Aménagement et de Construction (ERAC)/Sud, a housing development public agency, whereby ERAC/Sud assumed total responsibility for building the main sewer line in Drarga. ERAC/Sud's contribution represented about 30 percent of the total cost of improving sanitation in Drarga.

For Romania's Ministry of Environment and Water Management (MEWM) and with financing from the PHARE programme, STELLA provided the team leader, financing expert, and expert in charge of industrial pollution prevention and control. STELLA staff assessed the costs associated with the implementation of EU environmental directives and evaluated the financial needs for this implementation. STELLA developed tools to facilitate the implementation of EU environmental directives (cost benefit analysis, development of cost recovery mechanism, least cost-analysis of environmental law implementation). STELLA also elaborated a sound environmental financing strategy with sector and regional priorities, possible funding sources, and models for preparing feasible environmental investment projects. We analysed MEWM's training needs for environmental implementation and trained MEWM staff in relation to the activities of the project. STELLA also developed matrices of unit costs for the heavy investment directives, in particular, the urban wastewater treatment, drinking water, landfill, and waste management directives. We have developed the list of priority projects to be financed by ISPA and the EU Cohesion funds using various criteria such as the financial capacity for public services. The project has trained MEWM staff and staff from the local and regional Environmental Protection Agencies.

STELLA provided the financial/economic expert for this project financed by the World Bank to provide technical assistance to the Budget Department of Romania's Ministry of Environment and Water Management (MEWM). STELLA facilitated continued improvements in the identification, costing, and prioritisation of MEWM's budgetary programmes. We ensured the development of links between the work of the budget department within MEWM and the National Development Plan work in the Ministry of Public Finance, in such a way that any projects or activities that will benefit from EU post-accession funds are fully reflected in the budget submissions. We also developed and integrated financial management and audit standards to follow up the quality/outcome of the financed budget programmes and the efficiency of MEWM's spending. We worked on strengthening MEWM's budget analysis to ensure that MEWM can effectively analyse policy options in the submitted budgets; we assisted in developing strategic planning processes and a strategic plan on the environment component for the next Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.

For the Managing Authority (MA) of the Sectoral Operational Programme (SOP) for the Environment under Romania's Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MESD), STELLA assessed the financial and technical soundness of waste and water infrastructure projects to be co-financed by the Cohesion and Structural Funds and in compliance with the EU environmental directives. One of the issues studied was the impact of the definition of agglomeration under the wastewater treatment directive (91/271/CEE). The project strengthened MA's institutional capacity to perform a sound overall programming and monitoring of EU co-financed projects in Romania and to use efficiently and effectively the funds made available. Through on-the-job co-operation, elaboration of methodologies and staff training, this project reinforced the capacity of MA staff to prepare sound project plans, guide municipalities on the preparation of project proposals, appraise and prioritise project proposals, evaluate project applications and tender documents, manage efficiently the process of evaluation, and monitor the implementation of approved projects. STELLA revised waste and water infrastructure projects' documents such as master plans, feasibility studies, EIA and cost-benefit and sensitivity analyses, and corrected and improved the applications. We also reviewed and edited 11 Cohesion and Structural Fund applications for water and waste projects and revised tender documents according to FIDIC's yellow and red books. At the end of our project, DG Regio had approved almost 1 billion euros worth of water projects.

STELLA has participated in the implementation of the "IWPM Integrated Wastewater Purification Management" LIFE project whose overall objective was to demonstrate how an innovative IWPM-System can improve wastewater management and treatment, increasing the quality of effluent and reducing costs, in support of EU-Directives on Wastewater, Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM; EU-Directive 2000/60/EC), and Flora, Fauna, Habitat (FFH). To improve the performance of wastewater treatment systems facing problems of load variations, IWPM installed pipes between two plants in Germany's Bad Essen region to equalise the loads entering the plants. The plants were physically (biologically activated pipes) and electronically (remote control) connected to equalise and optimise the loads, thus allowing using the plants' capacities to their maximum. STELLA studied IWPM's feasibility and transferability in new EU member states as well as candidate countries.

The overall objective of the ACP - EU Water Facility (WF) was to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development through achieving the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. The Call for Proposals covered three components: (A) Improvement of Water Management and Governance; (B) Civil Society and Decentralised Cooperation Initiatives; and (C) Water and Sanitation Infrastructure. STELLA's team was involved in evaluating and assessing the project proposals under component C. The main applicants were public authorities and private operators active in water/wastewater treatment and water distribution. STELLA analysed the evaluation grids and provided feedback to the WF on the evaluation of the Concept Note and the pre-selected proposals; we also prepared a monitoring system of the evaluation process and the final evaluation report with the list of selected proposals and a reserve list.

STELLA implemented a project funded under ASIA-LINK, one of the Commission's Asia-wide Programmes. The goal of the project was to develop a curriculum on low-cost wastewater treatment for higher education in Europe and Asia. The project has: (i) strengthened the analytical and training capacity of higher education institutions in Asia (China and Vietnam) and Europe (Denmark and Belgium) by training MSc level students with the most up-to-date knowledge in low-cost wastewater treatment and environmental economics; (ii) assisted in developing curricula worldwide on low-cost wastewater treatment and environmental economics and in disseminating information through a network of higher learning institutions and former students; and (iii) established links among partners allowing the development of more contacts in education and research. The project developed new approaches, methods, and analytical tools to help integrate the environment into the decision-making process and influence the choice of appropriate policies. The project resulted in a complete curriculum, already tested and improved. Professors were trained and have now received all of the teaching materials required to repeat this experience later on. One of the outcomes is a strengthened capacity and awareness of professionals in economic concepts and methods to estimate environmental benefits and conduct cost-benefit analyses.

STELLA is implementing a USAID-financed project of three years and with a $7.2 million budget to assist the government of Kosovo with the implementation of the national policies in water supply and sanitation. STELLA is part of a consortium with PA Consulting in charge of supporting and reinforcing the financial and technical sustainability of Regional Water Companies (RWCs) to improve water supply and sanitation services. STELLA provides the Regional Technical Coordinator and a tariff expert for this project identifying and addressing key challenges in Kosovo's water supply and sanitation service sector. The main focus of the project is on two RWCs; Hidrodrini RWC covering the municipalities of Peja, Klina, Decan, Junik, and Istog; and Hidroregjioni Jugor RWC covering the municipalities of Prizren, Suhareke, Malisheva, and Dragas. The project objectives are to: (1) assist the Government of Kosovo in implementing national policy reforms to support the long-term sustainability of RWCs; (2) assist two RWCs by improving their technical and financial sustainability and effective management of water supply and sanitation services; and (3) support targeted infrastructure rehabilitation and equipment investment in reform-oriented RWCs that demonstrate improved system performance and sustainability.

STELLA staff has provided technical assistance to UNIDO and the Governments of Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria in establishing a programme to reduce industrial discharges and protect the Large Marine Ecosystem of the Gulf of Guinea. Textile, brewing, palm oil, rubber and petroleum are the primary industries of concern. STELLA staff visited seven plants in those industrial sectors as well as laboratories and discussed current industrial pollution prevention and control efforts undertaken by the Governments of Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Based on these visits and meetings, STELLA staff developed an action and monitoring plan to inventory and characterise industrial discharges and train local industrial managers in environmental auditing, wastewater pre-treatment and treatment, sampling and analysis, and clean technologies.

For UNOPS and Madagascar's National Office for the Environment, STELLA staff conducted an inventory of Madagascar's marine and coastal ecosystems (in particular, coral reefs and mangroves) and of their biodiversity, and an environmental assessment of Madagascar's coastal zone. Working closely with local experts, STELLA staff collected information and data on the environmental state of marine and coastal resources. STELLA staff identified the main problems and challenges for the sustainable development and conservation of the coastal zone. We recommended institutional, economic, and regulatory tools to implement an Integrated Coastal Zone Management programme in Madagascar. STELLA staff also identified potential marine protected areas.

STELLA provided the technical supervisor for the six-year, $10.5 million Water Resource Sustainability (WRS) activity with USAID/Morocco. The WRS activity aimed at improving water resources management and pollution control and used appropriate technologies, policies, and community participation to implement three pilot projects: wastewater treatment and reuse in Agadir, pollution control from tanneries in Fez, and soil/water conservation in the Rif region. As part of these projects, STELLA staff designed and built the Drarga (6,000 people) wastewater treatment and reuse plant and Morocco's first chromium recovery facility in Fez. We also provided technical assistance to the Drarga Municipality in plant budgeting, cost recovery analysis, and automatic billing. In the Rif, the activity has planted over 130,000 olive and fruit trees, stabilised 3.5 km of ravine by installing gabions and planting soil-retaining trees, and created six village committees. STELLA staff helped establish negotiated partnerships among local and central stakeholders (municipality, utility, tanners, and farmers). We also prepared an environmental impact assessment of each pilot project. In addition, STELLA staff assisted the Department of Environment and its numerous partners at the national and local level by providing training and technical assistance in water policies and technologies and community participation. We organised numerous workshops, seminars, and roundtables to raise public awareness and create project ownership, and train beneficiaries on cost-benefit analysis, wastewater treatment and re-use technologies.

For the Water Resources Sustainability activity, STELLA staff designed and built Morocco's first chromium recovery facility in Fez. This facility receives the tanning baths from 16 tanneries in the Dokkarat industrial zone, recovers the chromium from the baths through precipitation and acidification, and sells it back to the tanneries for reuse. The sale of chromium covers the facility's operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. The tanneries also pay a pollution fee contributing to reimbursing the $1 million investment. STELLA staff has established a partnership among local and central stakeholders, including RADEEF (local sanitation company), and has helped the partnership negotiate a cost-sharing agreement. The facility has reduced the quantity of chromium discharged by the tanneries into the sewer and the river by 90 percent.

STELLA staff has assisted UNDP and Syria's Ministry of Irrigation in reducing industrial pollution in the upper Orontes River through the implementation of environmental management practices and systems that comply with international standards. STELLA staff designed pilot projects to reduce water consumption by reusing treated effluents and to prevent pollution from an oil refinery, a fertiliser unit, and a sugar company. The pilot projects had the objective of implementing environmental management systems in each plant and preparing the plants for ISO 14000 certification. These projects also developed local capacity to promote, support, and replicate the implementation of environmental management standards in Syria. STELLA staff conducted two training workshops on environmental management systems and ISO 14000 certification.