Water Stewardship is the global way for high volume water users to take responsibility and receive due credit for improving water management practices, right across their water usage cycle.

High volume water users:
agriculture aquaculture manufacture major events water authorities		horticulture forestry construction infrastructure government

The global Water Stewardship brand will identify responsible water users through their actions, products and services.

It will demonstrate social responsibility and provide opportunities to gain competitive advantage.

The Water Stewardship Initiative is a stakeholder funded process that aims to turn this idea into a reality.

Specific aims of the Water Stewardship Initiative process are to:

• establish widely endorsed standards for responsible and sustainable water use by
  major users
• define criteria and translate these into verification programs
• establish certification systems
• develop and promote a licensed brand identity system for certified users

General information about the
Water Stewardship Initiative

Please download just the application form

In June 2007 at the 2nd Water Stewardship Forum a wide range of industry, government, social and other stakeholders agreed to support the development of an Options Paper that would outline alternative ways to structure and operate a Water Stewardship scheme.

The Water Stewardship Initiative was established to undertake further fundraising and develop the options paper. A reference group was set up to review proposed Standards and input to the development of Governance, Branding and Verification options.

Funding from private industry and Australia’s National Water Commission enabled the options paper to be developed and reviewed by a representative group of Australian stakeholders at the 3rd Water Stewardship Forum in October 2008.

In mid 2008 WSI joined The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Pacific Institute to establish the Alliance for Water Stewardship (allianceforwaterstewardship.org), which is now bringing together world leaders in environmental and social advocacy (WWF), water authority associations (WEF), and other water based initiatives (Water Witness) in the effort to establish globally recognised standards.

Through AWS the basic options for a Water Stewardship scheme developed by WSI have been widely reviewed by major ENGO, government and industry stakeholders in Europe, USA and most recently at Istanbul World Water Week in March 2009. Core standards have now been established as the basis for piloting the certification and verification process.