Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol:
Historical Evolution and Current Draft Protocol

The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Forum aims to develop a broadly endorsed sustainability assessment tool to measure and guide performance in the hydropower sector.

In August 2009, the Forum released a full Draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (the 'Draft Protocol'). This is provided as four stand-alone assessment tools, one for each key stage of the project life cycle. The project is assessed using the section relevant to its stage:

• Section I: Strategic Assessments (pdf format):
  English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
  
  
• Section II: Project Preparation (pdf format):
  English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
  
  
• Section III: Project Implementation (pdf format):
  English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
  
  
• Section IV: Project Operation (pdf format):
  English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish

The Forum had previously released a Draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol Key Components Document in January 2009. This was the skeletal document to a period of public Consultation in January and February 2009:

• Draft Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol Key Components Document - January 2009 (pdf)

In Consultation Phase 1, the Forum committed to show the relationship between the Draft Protocol content with the strategic priorities of the World Commission on Dams (WCD). This analysis is provided here:

• Mapping of WCD Strategic Priorities within the Draft HSAP Content – August 2009 (pdf)

The Forum’s work has centred on the existing IHA Sustainability Assessment Protocol 2006. This document is provided here:

• IHA Sustainability Assessment Protocol - 2006 (pdf)

Evaluations of the existing IHA Sustainability Assessment Protocol (2006) and historical assessments are provided here:

• IHA Sustainability Assessment Protocol - 2006: Evaluations and Historical Assessments

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