Synopsis

This technical note describes the specifics of the indicator data and calculations underpinning the India Water Tool 2.0 (IWT).

The IWT 2.0 allows companies, government agencies, and other users identify their water risks, prioritize their water management actions, plan for sustainable water management, and address water risks that confront agriculture, industry, households, and the natural environment in a given river basin.

Executive Summary

In India, rapid industrialization and urbanization are taking place at a time when increases in water supply are limited. Surface water and groundwater resources are heavily polluted, due in part to untreated sewage, and climate change is threatening to alter the timing of water supply, which could lead to increased floods and droughts. Better information and tools are needed to understand the complex nature of water risk and threats to water security.

In response to these water challenges, a Working Group of 14 members, including ten companies (ACC, Aditya Birla Group, Ambuja, BASF, ITC, Jain Irrigation, Mahindra, Monsanto, Nestle, and PepsiCo) and three knowledge partners (The World Resources Institute (WRI), Confederation of Indian Industry-Triveni Water Institute (CII-TWI), and Skoll Global Threats Fund) coordinated by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), developed the India Water Tool version 2 (IWT 2.0).

The IWT 2.0 is the first of its kind, a comprehensive, high-resolution, user-friendly, and publicly available water platform to help companies, government agencies, and other users identify their water risks and prioritize their water management actions in India.

The IWT 2.0 combines 14 datasets which includes datasets from key government authorities in India such as the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and best available models of water stress. Furthermore, IWT 2.0 allows users to calculate metrics that can be used to report directly to four different corporate disclosure initiatives including: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), G4 Guidelines, The United Nations (UN) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Water Mandate Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines, The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Water, and The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

This document describes the specific characteristics of the indicator data and calculations underpinning the IWT 2.0.