The objective of the AWS Standard is to drive water stewardship, which we define as: the use of water that is socially and culturally equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder-inclusive process that involves site-and catchment-based actions.
Good water stewards understand their own water use, catchment context and shared concerns in terms of water governance; water balance; water quality; Important Water-Related Areas (IWRAs); Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and then engage in meaningful individual and collective actions that benefit people, the economy and nature