NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / July 24, 2025 / Antea Group:
Author: Celine Morris
Water is a shared resource.
We all use it. We all need it. But do we give serious thought to the fact that we all need to work together to steward it? Or do we assume that someone else, someone with more people, more money, and more resources, will take charge and "fix" water risks on their own?
It is easy to believe that because water still flows from your tap, your home or business isn't at risk. But a watershed is more like a shared bank account than a private vault. Everyone draws from the account, and it only stays full if everyone contributes back into it. When one user overdraws (or pollutes), it impacts the whole system.
To meaningfully address water risks and properly steward the water resources we have, we must look outside of the four walls of our home or facility. It takes real commitment to partner with others in the basin and take shared responsibility for the health of the watershed. Collective action is one of the core tenets of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and one of the most powerful tools we have for long-term water security.
What Is Collective Action in Water Stewardship?
AWS defines collective action in the context of water stewardship as"a coordinated set of engagements among interested parties playing complementary roles, which pools together knowledge, resources, and/or expertise to jointly identify and implement solutions at various geographic scales, with the aim to address shared freshwater challenges."
Collective action matters because water risks are interconnected, highly localized, and often impact multiple users or activities, which can add up over time to create much bigger problems. What one user does upstream can affect the water quality, quantity, or access to water downstream. These risks don't stop at property lines or company boundaries.
Individual efforts, while important, may not be enough, especially in large or water-stressed basins. One facility can implement best practices internally, but if surrounding users are over-extracting, polluting, or not stewarding their water resources, the whole catchment remains vulnerable. It's like being a healthy fish in a drying pond. No matter how strong or well-adapted you are, you're still at risk if the environment around you is collapsing. That's why collaboration is key. Only by working together can stakeholders protect the shared ecosystem they all depend on.
Who Needs to Be Involved-and Why
The success of collective action also depends on who is involved and how they're engaged. Stakeholders each bring unique knowledge, perspectives, and priorities that contribute to a fuller understanding of the local water context. Building trust and capacity among these groups is often a necessary first step. Long-term basin health can't be achieved without cooperation from diverse players, such as local communities, governments, other businesses, NGOs, and water utilities. Everyone has a role to play.
How the AWS Standard Supports Collective Action
The AWS Standard v.2.0 embeds collective action throughout its framework, but also addresses it directly in Step 5: Communicate & Disclose, Criteria 5.4: "Disclose efforts to collectively address shared water challenges."
Indicator 5.4.1 states that "the site's shared water-related challenges and efforts made to address these challenges shall be disclosed."
Indicator 5.4.2 states that "efforts made by the site to engage stakeholders and coordinate and support public-sector agencies shall be identified."
Collective action is also emphasized several times in the Standard's Advanced Indicators. This reenforces the idea that as facilities and businesses continue to grow in their water stewardship maturity, they will begin to work more at the catchment level, partnering with other water users and stakeholders to drive meaningful change.
Moving Beyond the Fence Line
Water stewardship doesn't stop at the fence line. It goes beyond the four walls. It requires a willingness to engage, collaborate, and invest in the health of the entire basin. As a business, we urge you to consider seeking out partnerships, supporting shared initiatives, and helping build trust among the diverse stakeholders who rely on the same watershed as you. Collective action isn't a bonus, an add-on, or a "nice to have." It's essential to business resiliency. It's how we move from isolated effort to scalable, meaningful, and lasting impact.
For questions about your business and responsible water management, reach out to our team of water stewardship experts today!
The content herein is the author's opinion and not published on behalf of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS). The author holds an AWS Professional Credential and this piece of publishing helps fulfil their Continuing Contribution Units requirements. For more information about AWS or the AWS Professional Credentialing Program please visit https://a4ws.org/.
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SOURCE: Antea Group
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/why-shared-water-challenges-need-shared-solutions-1052353
