WSA Information Paper No. 1 - Water Stewardship Australia

WSA Information Paper No. 1
The International Water Stewardship Standard v.1
Prepared 8 April 2014
Water stewardship is defined as water use that is socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically
beneficial achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process. The framework for implementing water stewardship is set out
in the International Water Stewardship Standard version 1 (IWSS). The standard was developed by a 16-member multistakeholder group that represented both a cross-section of global regions and a cross-section of stakeholder interests.
Members were drawn from business and corporate water interests, from civil society and from public sector water
managers and policy-makers. The standard was released in April 2014.
Site-level action that can generate catchment level impact
The standard was designed to be implemented at a water-using site – be it an agricultural operation, a processor or
manufacturer, a commercial or institutional site. It requires site-level action framed by an understanding of catchment
issues, based on four Principles. This understanding is best achieved through cooperation and partnerships between
users and between users and catchment managers, natural resource management agencies and civil society groups.
Four Principles of Water Stewardship
Underpinning the IWSS are the four principles of water stewardship. These are:
 Sustainable Water Balance (quantity and flow)1
 Good Water Quality
 Healthy Important Water Related Areas
 Good Water Governance
Six Steps to Good Water Stewardship
The Standard sets out a 6 steps for
achieving good water stewardship (Figure
1). This is based on an ISO quality
assurance process and is designed to
encourage both innovation and continuous
improvement in water performance. Each
step is supported by indicators of
compliance (see Table 1 next page).
Compliance can be verified by accredited
independent conformity assessment bodies
to gain market recognition through claims
of compliance. Incentives are provided to
stimulate innovation by providing core,
gold and platinum criteria for
accreditation.
1
Figure 1: Six steps for good water stewardship
Water balance was used rather than flow though recognition that water can be recycled, evaporated, discharged to a river, pumped from an
aquifer or exported from the site in the form of virtual water.
STEP
AWS Core Criteria
AWS Advanced-Level Criteria
1.1 Establish a leadership commitment on water stewardship
1.3 Further the Alliance for Water Stewardship
1.2 Develop a water stewardship policy
1.4 Commit to other initiatives that advance effective water stewardship
3
1.5 Secure a water stewardship commitment from the site’s or organization’s most senior executive or site’s
or organization’s governance body
1
1.6 Prioritize communities’ rights to water
8
2.1 Define the physical scope
2.2 Identify stakeholders, their water-related challenges and site’s sphere of
influence
2.3 Gather water-related data for the catchment
2.8 Support and undertake joint water-related data collection
4
2.9 Gather additional, detailed water-related data
3
2.10 Review a formal study on future water resources scenarios
3
2.4 Gather water-related data for the site
2.11 Conduct a detailed indirect water use evaluation
7
2.5 Improve the site’s understanding of its indirect water use
2.12 Understand groundwater status or environmental flows and the site’s potential contributions
10
2.6 Understand shared water-related challenges in the catchment
2.13 Complete a voluntary Social Impact Assessment
3
3.1 Develop a system that promotes and evaluates water-related legal compliance
3.5 Gain stakeholder consensus on the site’s water stewardship targets
7
3.2 Create a site water stewardship strategy and plan
3.3 Demonstrate responsiveness and resilience to water-related risks into the site’s
incident response plan
3.6 Develop a formal plan for climate change adaptation
6
4.1 Comply with water-related legal and regulatory requirements
4.9 Achieve best practice results on site water balance
8
4.2 Maintain or improve site water balance
4.10 Achieve best practice results on site water quality
8
4.3 Maintain or improve site water quality
4.11 Achieve best practice results on Important Water-Related Areas through restoration
8
4.4 Maintain or improve the status of the Important Water-Related Areas
4.12 Achieve best practice results, and strengthen capacity, in water governance
8
4.5 Participate positively in catchment governance
4.13 Advance regionally-specific industrial water-related benchmarking
3
4.6 Maintain or improve indirect water use within the catchment
4.7 Provide access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene
awareness (WASH) for workers on site
4.14 Re-allocate saved water for social or environmental needs
6
COMMIT
GATHER &
UNDERSTAND
Points
3 (9)
2.7 Understand and prioritize the site’s water risks and opportunities
PLAN
3.4 Notify the catchment authority of the site’s water stewardship plans
IMPLEMENT
4.8 Notify the owners of shared water-related infrastructure of any concerns
EVALUATE
4.15 Engage in collective action to address shared water challenges
4.16 Drive reduced indirect water use throughout the site’s supply chain and outsourced water-related
service providers
4.17 Complete implementation of water-related initiatives
8 (14)
5 (7)
3
4.18 Provide access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene awareness off-site
5
5.1 Evaluate the site’s water stewardship performance, risks and benefits in the
catchment context
5.5 Executive or governance body-level review of water stewardship efforts
3
5.2 Evaluate water-related emergency incidents and extreme events
5.6 Conduct a formal stakeholder evaluation
6
5.3 Consult stakeholders on water-related performance
5.4 Update water stewardship and incident response plans
COMMUNICATE &
DISCLOSE
6.1 Disclose water-related internal governance
6.6 Disclose water risks to owners (& align w/disclosure frameworks)
6.2 Disclose annual site water stewardship performance
6.7 Implement a program for water education
4
6.3 Disclose efforts to address shared water challenges
6.8 Discuss site-level water stewardship in the organization’s annual report
2
6.4 Drive transparency in water-related compliance
6.5 Increase awareness of water issues within the site
Table 1: Table of International Water Stewardship Standard Criteria and points for Advanced Criteria
4 (6)
Three Levels of Performance Encourage Continuous Improvement
The Standard’s structure allows for increasing levels of performance in water stewardship. This is recognized by Core,
Gold and Platinum levels. At the Core level, all criteria are required. At the advanced levels, criteria have points
attached to them, which reflect both the degree of effort required and the anticipated impact. Points are set out in the
right hand column of Table 1 on the previous page. The aggregation of points results in Gold or Platinum level
performance. Higher levels require compliance with all core criteria plus a number of points from optional criteria.
Table 2: AWS International Water Stewardship Standard Levels
Level
Conformity with Core Criteria Cumulative Advanced-Level Criteria Points
AWS Core
Required
0-39
AWS Gold
Required
40-79
AWS Platinum
Required
80+
Water Stewardship Theory of Change
The Standard is based upon a logical sequence of how water stewardship can be driven from site-level actions to result in
catchment level impacts. This “Theory of Change” is illustrated below.
Figure 2: The AWS Standard Theory of Change
Verification of Performance
The IWSS can be used in a number of ways. It can be used as an internal self-assessment tool. WSA training or WSA
accredited consultants can help major water users assess their current performance against the standard and develop
improvement programs where required. Claims of compliance with the IWSS can be made where an independent
accredited conformity assessment body has assessed these claims. WSA and the global umbrella group, the Alliance for
Water Stewardship (AWS), will be nominating a panel of conformity assessment bodies in the second half of 2014. It
will also be finalising processes that these bodies will need to follow in their verification of sites seeking to make claims
of compliance and the use of either the WSA or AWS logos when making those claims.
Further information
Contact:
Water Stewardship Australia
Post: PO Box 184, East Melbourne, Vic. 8002
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.waterstewardship.org.au
Tel:
Michael Spencer, Executive Secretary, 0439 381144
Alliance for Water Stewardship
Web: www.allianceforwaterstewardship.org