Primary Functions
- Commit to, understand, plan, implement, evaluate, and communicate water stewardship actions at the facility level
Detailed Description
The AWS International Water Stewardship Standard (AWS Standard) is an international, ISEAL-compliant, standard that defines a set of water stewardship criteria and indicators for how water should be stewarded at a site and catchment level in a way that is environmentally, socially, and economically beneficial. The Standard provides water stewards with a six-step continual improvement framework that enables sites to commit to, understand, plan, implement, evaluate and communicate water stewardship actions.
Implementing the AWS Standard helps sites to:
- Mitigate their water risks,
- Address their shared water challenges in the catchment, and
- Ensure that responsible water stewardship actions are in place to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts for everyone.
The AWS Standard can be implemented by any site, in any sector, in any catchment around the world. Furthermore, the Standard can be harnessed by others interested in mitigating corporate risks, such as water-related supply chain risks or investors, as well as public sector agencies as a framework to evaluate water stewardship practices.
Free to download, the AWS Standard will also soon be supported by a verification system which will enable verification of practices, the use of claims and AWS verified logos. The verification system will recognize the different levels of performance outlined in the AWS Standard and will offer independent verification of performance developed by members in a robust and credible manner.
The AWS Standard is managed by the members of the Alliance for Water Stewardship and informed by a technical advisory group.
