What's your water print?

According to a report released February 26 by the Pacific Institute and Ceres, industries and investors are not paying sufficient attention to their water uses and needs. This spans the range from tourism, beverage, agriculture, power and chipmakers, all of which are water intensive.

While carbon footprint seems to be picking up (as a fashion?) not much is being done about water. Considering that one of the most painful fallouts of climate change will be water scarcity, this is unfortunate.

The Pacific Institute notes how water inventories are an absolute must if we are to manage this most precious resource. Only then can reduction and conservation measures be implemented. Indirectly by managing well, associated energy costs can be reduced.

Of the 190 water-intensive companies interviewed, only 20% looked at real risks of water shortages, and only 10% looked at supply chain risks. Almost no companies disclosed water use or looked at climate change impacts to water use.

The report outlines specific actions for companies to practice responsible water management and increase disclosures regarding water use to shareholders.

The jean company Levi Strauss & Co. has been a leader in supply chain analysis and reduced the amount of water used to make jeans by insisting that laundries that pre-wash their jeans meet strict water conservation guidelines. Some others like Coca-Cola and Intel have begun to disclose the amount of water they use in financial reports.

It is up to the public to demand to know such details as the world gets ready to face a water-stressed tomorrow. A chip making unit, to set up which many of the cities in India made a bid, was expected to use up almost three times the water daily as used by an average city. If this detail had been available to the public, would it have allowed such a unit to be set up?

Not to say we do not need such units but there must be every effort to recycle and conserve water as also energy.

What, for instance, is your company’s water footprint?