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Water is vital for survival, making its conservation and efficient management a persistent challenge amid growing threats to its availability, accessibility and quality. We must not overlook the significance of water across its entire lifecycle. Water resources cannot only be designed or managed through a traditional linear approach of take-use-dispose.
Water systems are complex, and our water footprint reflects more than water volume – it spans biodiversity, community health and other linked systems. When designing for imminent fluctuations of our water cycle, it is important to steer the development of a water-tolerant, resilient future amid a changing planet.
As our interconnected water challenges grow, conventional environmental practices may no longer be sufficient to manage the complexities of achieving sustainable water management across sectors. Water underpins the functioning of the natural and built environment, and it has a critical role in food production, energy systems, health systems and industrial operations.
Rather than reinventing the wheel and delaying progress, an environmental management system can be strengthened by integrating various water frameworks to consider biodiversity, water quality, discharge standards, reuse opportunities and community impacts.
This is where we can go beyond environmental compliance and turn to water stewardship frameworks to increase necessary stakeholder engagement and the streamlining of data for transparent disclosure and subsequent action. It is time to steer organisations to reframe their understanding of their roles and responsibilities when it comes to their water use and consumption.
When dealing with various complexities and dependencies around water, it can feel discouraging when organisations do not have the data available to support their claims about water, so where do you begin in trying to understand how they value water and where the risks are?
It all starts with knowing how water looks beyond their immediate site boundaries. It is important to learn how water influences and interacts with broader systems, including supply chains, service providers, surrounding communities and ecosystems, as well as downstream environmental impacts and upstream water risks. By taking a wider perspective on water, you can expose and identify water-related risks and challenges.
In this technological era, prioritise context-specific innovation and transparent communication. But, first, aim to understand the catchment’s risks and challenges. Only then will water systems become clear enough to manage and operate sustainably. Take it a step further: zoom out from the catchment to uncover deeper supply chain risks. See water as the connector it truly is.
Audits identify risks, but disclosing findings and taking collective action drives real change. If we can work to embed water stewardship practices into everyday challenges, we can start to overcome systemic water risks. Seek opportunities to move beyond audits to meaningful collective action.
Alicia Dauth MISEP is water assurance technical lead at Water Security Collective, and author of ISEP’s Advancing Environmental Management Through Water Stewardship guide (www.bit.ly/water-guidance)
