Businesses need more collaborative, sustainable water management approach

Ooska News: A new report by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) called on businesses to focus on water management beyond the “fence-line,” or outside the company, to ensure sustainable use of the resource.

As competing demands for water increase and more frequent weather events due to climate change come into play, businesses need to plan for an unpredictable and inconsistent water supply and develop more sophisticated water management practices than merely bringing down their own water usage, according to the report “Sharing Water: Engaging Business,” launched last week.

It says companies should adopt a more holistic “watershed approach” that factors in upstream and downstream interactions and direct and indirect impacts, and acknowledges the needs of the environment.

For many businesses, this approach is a more cost-effective method to mitigate water risks and provides significant benefits and opportunities through new revenue prospects, reputation enhancement, improved compliance and cost savings, the report added.

According to the WBCSD, to accelerate the impact of business actions, there needs to be a shift from inside the fence-line to watershed-based collaboration that effectively engages other stakeholders to improve shared management of water....

Shot of a running brook by Jon Sullivan, public domain