Water: Happy World Water Day

For 15 years World Water Day has been celebrated on the 22nd of March. Seems I blogged on the topic of water about 10 days too early (see post 13 March on the subject!) but that is ok as there is much more to say on the topic!

This year's theme (as determined by the world water day organizers) is "Coping with Water Scarcity." The theme highlights the significance of cooperation and importance of an integrated approach to resource management of water at both international and local levels.

Equity and rights, cultural and ethical issues are essential to be addressed when dealing with limited water resources. Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international disputes, all center around the question of how to cope with scarce water resources.

When looking at the GRI reporting indicators on water one might think that this is a straightforward subject to manage as a company (EN8 Total water withdrawal by source; EN9 Water resources significantly affected by withdrawals; and EN10 Percentage and total water recycled or reused). But when considering the ecological and community inter-relationships with this essential shared resource, it becomes clear that we all have to work together to ensure we use it properly.