Water stewardship advocacy

Why it matters

Water is a resource we all share. Working alongside neighbors and other stakeholders with common interests is the only way we can address the complex challenges associated with water stewardship. We believe that proactive, long-term engagement and partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders can help to define, implement and evaluate solutions to the complex environmental challenges that we face.

Our approach

Through partnerships like the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS), we’re committed to protecting water resources at catchment and community level, and improving water use in our factories and agricultural supply chain. The AWS standard certification process has helped us to broaden and improve our engagement with local stakeholders and to reinforce the way we transparently share our watershed data.

What we are doing

Together we are making a big impact around the world.

World Water Week

Nestlé and AWS hosted the first Nestlé in Society discussion series, a multi-stakeholder event during World Water Week in Stockholm. Participants from industry, the agricultural sector and NGOs discussed issues around the role of certification in sustainable water management, and ways to connect initiatives for greater impact.

In August 2018, we also participated in a panel discussion at the Stockholm International Water Institute conference to discuss how business can contribute to sustainable water management in factories, watersheds, agricultural supply chains and communities.

Saving water in California

In California, all five of our water bottling facilities are AWS-certified. During the certification process, it was found that we saved more than 204 million liters of water between 2016 and 2017 after implementing initiatives that focused on monitoring and optimizing water use.

We’re particularly proud of the progress we’ve made at our Cabazon facility: the first site in North America to be awarded gold-level certification not only for its water quality best practices, but for making a positive contribution to the local groundwater system. In the audit, local stakeholders affirmed the good work done by the facility.

Taking action to protect water sources in Lebanon’s Shouf Mountains

Nestlé Waters joined with Lebanon’s Shouf Biosphere Reserve to conduct a two-year monitoring study of the reserve’s groundwater. The study was conducted by leading water and environmental consultancy ANTEA Group. It found that the groundwater balance was overall positive by around 12 million cubic meters per year – and highlighted important impacts as a result of seasonality, climate change and human activities.

With the rainy season mainly extending from October to April, the study found there was a need to better manage water resources to avoid droughts caused by seasonal shifts in the flow of springs and rivers in the area during the dry period of the year.

The results are very reassuring as far as groundwater levels in the Shouf are concerned. We now look forward to continued collaboration with the private sector and local authorities and institutions, which were pivotal in taking the lead in this initiative, in order to implement the study’s recommended means to ensure sustainable water supply during dry seasons. Cesar Abi Khalil, Minster of Energy and Water, Lebanon

Carlo Galli, Head of Sustainability, Nestlé Waters and Technical Director Water Resources, Nestec S.A., said: “Our collaboration with the Shouf Biosphere Reserve in Lebanon and local stakeholders is allowing us to create value for society, the environment and us.”