Guidelines for Protecting Water Sources for Hydroelectric Power Plants (Volume 5 of Framework and Guidelines for Water Source Protection).

These Guidelines of the Ministry of Water and Environment concern principally protection of a water source for a small to medium sized hydroelectric scheme (to maintain and improve the quality of the local water environment). They are intended for hydroelectric plant managers and developers. They should prepare a Water Source Protection Plan for the sustainable management of the water cycle affecting their operations to make them more efficient and environmentally sustainable. The hydroelectric power plant must protected from: a) Unreliable water availability resulting from catchment degradation, such as soil erosion and deforestation, which reduces reliability of power generation supply, or reduces overall generation capacity. b) Siltation, which reduces the storage capacity of the reservoir, if the scheme has one, which then reduces yield and reliability of the power generation. c) High silt, sediment and debris load that clogs intakes and increases damage and wear on equipment.