Nestlé has aggregated third-party geo-spatial data into a customized water risk map. The map allows the company to determine which of its sites are in areas where water resources are already under stress and competition for water is severe, as well as areas where such conditions are likely to worsen.

Nestlé pairs this global water risk map with information gathered by the company’s Water Resources Review (WRR) program to determine the sustainability of water management practices in a given site’s watershed. The WRR takes into account both internal and external factors, focusing on water quantity, water quality, regulatory compliance, site protection and stakeholder relationships. The program also covers the impacts of Nestlé’s direct operations and indirect impacts related to transportation (e.g., pipelines and storage tanks), water treatment, and wastewater processes. So far, the WRR has been deployed at 88 of the company’s bottled water sites and is now being rolled out at the company’s food-processing factories.

The combination of external data and Nestlé’s internal WRR process has enabled the company to identify risks and key issues in water resources at the local level, resulting in targeted action plans to ensure each facility’s sustainable water use. The results of these efforts have been consistent reductions in water withdrawals over the past decade; since 2000, Nestlé has reduced water withdrawals by 32% even while production volume grew 73%. The company hopes to reduce water consumption by another 10-15% over the next five years.

Since then, the program has grown to enroll more than 500 supplier facilities and subcontractors, which produce or process materials used to manufacture Nike-branded apparel, footwear and equipment, and Nike affiliate brand products. The program has also been strengthened with the implementation of H2O Insight, an online data collection system that requires participating suppliers to report detailed production and water management data in addition to water volume and quality data. The Water Program today continues to set limits on a variety of water quality indicators (including pH, biochemical oxygen demand, and suspended solids, for example). Lab test results for these indicators are managed through a third party and uploaded through the online reporting system into a central clearinghouse-style database that allows Nike to track progress facility-by-facility and year-by-year. The results are also used to identify instances of non-compliance and prioritize action by suppliers.

Because most of Nike's material suppliers also process textiles for other retailers and brands, the company recognizes that its efforts to collect data and work toward improved supplier performance will also benefit the broader industry. To that end, Nike is releasing the H2O Insight system to the industry and encouraging other brands to leverage this powerful tool to gain insight into their own supply chain water use and impact, and to work toward greater sustainability, traceability and visibility into their impacts on water resources.

Beyond regulated environmental impacts, many textile manufacturing processes continue to burden water resources through the discharge of unregulated and persistent chemical compounds. In recognition of these impacts, the company recently announced a goal to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by 2020.

Nike acknowledges that it will be challenging to meet this commitment, but the company's aim is to reach its goal through innovation, the application of green chemistry, and collaboration both with the chemicals industry and Nike's counterparts in the footwear and apparel industry.

This risk assessment helped inform the company’s core water-related performance goals, which are underpinned by a commitment to respect water as a fundamental human right. The company’s goals include:

• Improving water use efficiency by 20% by 2015

• Striving for “positive water impact,” returning more water to the environment than its operations consume in water-stressed areas
• Working with agricultural suppliers to promote farming practices that protect water, the climate, land and biodiversity

At the operational level, PepsiCo is working to meets its water efficiency goal through the company’s Sustainable Engineering Guidelines, which provide guidance on water use reduction and plant process design and management as well as site selection. Additionally, PepsiCo uses the ReCon tool, a diagnostic for understanding plant water and energy use and creating strategies to reduce them. These efforts are reinforced at the corporate level through a capital expenditure filter that reviews key water (and other sustainability) risks and opportunities associated with projects linked to capital requests greater than $5 million. As of 2010, the company had improved its water use efficiency by 18% against its 2006 baseline.

Beyond driving plant-level efficiency, the company is prioritizing watershed-level interventions in highly stressed regions with a focus on projects and collaborations that return water to the surrounding watershed and communities. To this end, PepsiCo has worked with The Nature Conservancy on a pilot project that identified watershed restoration priorities at sites in Mexico, the U.S., India, China and the U.K.

The company is also looking beyond its direct operations to its agricultural supply chain and working with suppliers to deploy novel water-saving technologies like the “i-Crop” tool.  i-Crop is a web-based crop management system developed with Cambridge University that enables farmers around the world to monitor, manage and reduce their water use and carbon emissions while maximizing potential yield and quality.

Beyond understanding where water was used across the value chain, SABMiller and its partners conducted watershed risk assessments in each of the four countries. The assessments were designed to determine the current status and health of relevant watersheds and water infrastructure, any risks the existing situation posed to the company, and trends in supply and demand (such as climate change and social and economic development) that would affect those risks over the next 20 years. A more detailed business risk assessment was also conducted that established the potential costs of these risks and the relative cost-benefit of numerous risk mitigation options.

Using these analyses as the business case for action, SABMiller, WWF and GIZ developed appropriate risk mitigation plans with farmers in stressed watersheds. For example, the project is tackling the water efficiency of agricultural suppliers of hops and barley for Kilimanjaro, one of Tanzania’s most popular beer brands. The project partners are working with farmers to educate them on the value of water conservation (introducing more efficient irrigation techniques and technologies) and providing incentive- based programs for farmers to reduce their water impacts.

These mitigation plans also include efforts to engage regulators and governments to support and participate in efforts to improve local water management. In Tanzania, for example, the partnership is undertaking a targeted communications program with senior government officials to raise the importance of water resource management. In South Africa it is working with key stakeholders in the Gouritz basin to establish a robust water monitoring system in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and other government agencies.

Each tailings pond that goes unreclaimed after mine closure is a liability due to long-term operational costs related to monitoring and treating water.  As the company grew, these liabilities clearly mounted. At the same time, the water stuck within these tailings ponds represents an asset that could be recycled to offset freshwater use needed for mining operations.

Suncor has been researching, developing and testing its proprietary "TRO" tailings management process, which is expected to allow it to reclaim entire mine sites in a third of the time it now takes. The company plans to invest over $1 billion by the end of 2011 to implement the TRO process across all of its operations and anticipates reducing the number of tailings ponds in operation at its current mine site from eight to only one—an 80% reduction in land area covered by tailings ponds. Additionally, the company expects to reduce the environmental liabilities associated with its tailings ponds.

Although Suncor has an existing goal to reduce water use by 12% on an intensity basis by 2015, it now believes that it can exceed this goal through further investments in freshwater reuse and access to the water “unlocked” from reclaimed tailings ponds.

The company also sees opportunities for the oil sands industry to more quickly advance tailings cleanup and increase water reuse. In December 2010, Suncor and six other oil sands companies committed to share their existing research and technology, and to work to remove barriers to collaboration on future R&D projects related to tailings management. Suncor, for its part, is now sharing its TRO technology with industry competitors as well as university and government scientists so the environmental benefits of the innovation can be maximized.

As a first step in the Aqua Gauge assessment, Ceres and Irbaris evaluated Coca-Cola’s existing water strategy using data from public documents such as the company’s sustainability report, its CDP Water Disclosure response and SEC filings. “This step in the process helped us understand how investors and stakeholders are likely to view us, and where we could improve our disclosure,” says Greg Koch, Global Director of Water Stewardship at Coca-Cola.

Then, using additional internal Coca-Cola information, a full assessment of the company’s water strategy was conducted against the leading practices defined in the Aqua Gauge. This assessment was used to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and formulate recommendations that were shared with Coca-Cola representatives from across the business. The analysis, when compared to the Aqua Gauge score of a peer company, also provided Coca-Cola with a rigorous external benchmark for their program.

“The Aqua Gauge assessment helped us understand the relative maturity of different elements of our water stewardship strategy as we work to enhance our strategy and its execution,” says Koch. “It’s a powerful tool for helping companies develop a strategic, holistic response to water risk.”

In 2013, Coca-Cola is re-setting its sustainability goals, including those on water, and will use the Aqua Gauge assessment to help inform its new commitments. An important priority for the company going forward is working with major suppliers and retail customers to help advance their own water management. “We are sharing the Aqua Gauge with suppliers and customers to help these commercial partners take steps to improve their own water management,” says Koch.

Working with the Antea Group, the Cummins team used the Ceres Aqua Gauge™ framework as a first step in the strategy development process.  The framework helped guide Cummins in assessing the maturity of its existing water management programs, identifying potential gaps, and considering future goals.

Using the Aqua Gauge, Cummins evaluated its portfolio of diverse business units -- each with different geographic representation, processes, supply chains, risks, and strengths. “We were able to see where we stood along the maturity spectrum and then visualize where we wanted to go,” recalls Swingle. “The Aqua Gauge provided a flexible yet comprehensive view of the facets of water management, helping us frame our discussions to prioritize actions into a logical roadmap that fit our business.”

Moving forward, Cummins' water management program will focus on four priority areas: 1) water conservation, 2) operations risks, 3) supply chain risks, and 4) community alignment. Recognizing the local nature of water issues, Cummins plans to prioritize initiatives using a watershed approach, a process that has already begun with the launch of deeper analysis for select facilities in high water stress areas.

“We are very pleased to be one of the first industrial companies to use Ceres’ Aqua Gauge tool,” says Swingle, “and we intend to continue using the framework as we further formalize our water management programs and goals.” As part of its newly launched cross-functional sustainability committee, Cummins expects to publically release broad sustainability goals later in 2013, including formalized water management goals related to both its operations and supply chain.