The AWS International Water Stewardship Standard

We defines water stewardship as: “The use of water that is socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process that involves site and catchment-based actions.”

• Step 1: COMMIT – Commit to being a responsible water steward
• Step 2: GATHER & UNDERSTAND – Gather data to understand shared water challenges and water related risks, impacts and opportunities
• Step 3: PLAN – Develop a water stewardship plan
• Step 4: IMPLEMENT – Implement the site’s stewardship plan and improve impacts
• Step 5: EVALUATE – Evaluate the site’s performance
• Step 6: COMMUNICATE & DISCLOSE – Communicate about water stewardship and disclose the site’s stewardship efforts

The Standard follows a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle
It can be used as an internal self-assessment tool or to engage stakeholders in catchment sustainability

From Water Risk Management to Business Value Creation – Ecolab’s Water Stewardship Journey

Ecolab’s Taicang plant, commissioned in 2012, is located in the Taihu Lake Basin which is in the core of Yantze River Delta economic development area. Taihu Lake Basin suffers from various water problems including flooding, saltwater intrusion, droughts and significant pollution and water quality issues.
The Chinese government has also taken steps to address these concerns and placed stringent requirements on new industrial facilities in the watershed, including a zero-discharge mandate.  The plant faced tremendous water challenges from day one of its plant design.

In 2015 Ecolab added 15 new projects to its annually updated water stewardship plan

Partnering with World Wildlife Fund (WWF, founding member of AWS), Ecolab undertook a field test of the AWS Standard (beta version) at its Taicang manufacturing plant from year 2013. The figure below illustrates the initial AWS journey. With the system in place, water stewardship has now become a long-term strategy that is integrated in plant management. In 2015, Ecolab added 15 new projects to its annually updated water stewardship plan.
From 2013 to 2015, Ecolab has achieved a range of outcomes through its water stewardship effort:

• Improved water efficiency, reduced wastewater and reduced costs
• Supplementary of ISO14000 system, and improvement of water and environmental protection standards
• Improved relationship with civil society groups and government officials
• Raised awareness among staff, suppliers and neighboring plants on the importance of water stewardship
• Better understanding of the site’s indirect water use and associated risks

Besides private benefit to the company, the project also contributed to improving overall water management in the catchment, increase awareness of shared water challenges among major water users in the catchment, and facilitated dialogue between business, government, NGOs and community.

Project obstacles included: lack of publicly available water related info and lack of communication channels

In September 2015, Ecolab’s Taicang plant became the first facility in the world to be AWS certified. The experience of Ecolab contributed to the finalization of the first AWS standards, and global knowledge on practical implication of the Standard in chemical sector.
The project also highlighted some major obstacles for implementing water stewardship, such as lack of publicly available water related information for the catchment, lack of communication channels and platform for major water users and various stakeholder groups, and the need for leadership at catchment level to drive collective actions. This learning will contribute to the continuous improvement of the AWS water stewardship system.

Future outlook: scaling up and growing local capacity

In order to enhance capacity at local level to develop and scale-up water stewardship in major river basins in China, AWS, China National Institute for Standardization (CNIS), Ecolab and WWF China is planning to develop a Water Stewardship China Network (WSCN) and calling for more partners to join.  WSCN’s initial mission will be to:

• Create a collaborative way for businesses, government and communities to define and deliver great stewardship outcomes;
• Ensure that good water stewardship outcomes are recognized locally and internationally; and
• Ensure Chinese knowledge and experience is embedded in the AWS international standard and created to support its local delivery.

Ecolab and WWF China is planning to develop a Water Stewardship China Network

In China, we are currently initiating water stewardship pilot projects with NGO partners, domestic manufacturers and global brands in various sectors including agriculture, food & beverage, textile printing & dyeing, micro-electronics, natural education and water utility sectors.
We invite interested parties from private, public sectors as well as civil society to join us in the effort to protect our precious water resources.

Further Reading

• China Water Risk’s 5 Trends for 2016 – Prioritizing environment alongside employment signals a reshuffle. To show it’s serious, China will “kill a chicken to warn the monkey”. The Year of the Monkey brings with it wild swings, so check out our top 5 trends in water for 2016 for it is better to be in a position to disrupt than be disrupted
• Be Green and Prosper – With increased fines, penalties and jail sentences, China Water Risk’s McGregor & Liu expand on China’s push towards ‘all things green’. Also hear from top business leaders in China on why it pays to be green to prosperCWR 5 trends
• Comparing Chinese Hydropower Overseas – Who’s better at building dams overseas? Datang, Huaneng, Three Gorges or Huadian? International Rivers’ Jenson-Cormier shares their benchmarking study on seven Chinese hydropower co’s

Business & Water

• Incorporating Environment Into Business – Companies are incorporating environmental performance into business, so suppliers need to follow suit or risk losing customers. The Business Environmental Performance Initiative (BEPI) can help both parties as BEPI’s Micilotta explains
• China Water-nomics – Will China’s economic development be hampered by limited water resources?  The very existence of the Three Red Lines signals that China can’t keep developing the way it has. Read on for why GDP will be capped at 5.7% given China’s water-nomics
• Brand Rankings Through A Chinese Lens – See how global and local brands rank across 8 sectors in terms of their supply chain’s environmental impact in this review of the new Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI) report by IPE & NRDC
• Corporate Water Reporting in China – CDP’s report shows potentially inadequate water risk assessment by Chinese companies & those with HQ’s in China. CDP’s Gillespy on their latest report and why it’s time to report on water risks