Beyond compliance: How a basin threshold tool can turn collective corporate action into a catalyst for water security

Fresh water is the planet’s most precious and limited resource, and around the world industrial water use from agriculture to textile production is placing water under increasing stress from overuse and pollution. In the face of these challenges, companies are discovering increasingly sustainable ways to manage their water use. But what does that look like, exactly? How much water is enough to leave in a river to keep it healthy so business can continue to prosper.

In recent years, the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has emerged as a leading voice in helping businesses work within planetary limits for nature, including land, oceans, and freshwater. SBTN’s first guidance for freshwater, released in 2023, gave companies a science-based approach to set targets for freshwater quantity (surface water) and quality (Nitrogen and Phosphorous). These targets ensure that water use decisions are grounded both in supply-chain risk mitigation and in the water needed for habitats to fully function year-round. Maintaining ecological thresholds for thriving rivers, floodplains, wetlands, estuaries and inner and coastal deltas is the goal while data may be sparse across regions where companies are operating. One tool to help companies in target setting is the Basin Threshold Tool, a global database of locally relevant ecological information.

Version 0.1 of the Basin Threshold Tool (BTT v.0.1), to be released at Stockholm World Water Week is designed to help companies identify where, when and how much water must be left in rivers to maintain this balance. It’s the first global tool of its kind and currently exists in an Excel-based platform, bringing together environmental flow thresholds, hydrologic data, ecological data, and local stakeholder context. The more data is added, the better the tool becomes. But its impact will depend on how widely it is adopted and how boldly companies act.

The BTT v.0.1 supports Step 3 in SBTN’s freshwater guidance (Measure, Set, Disclose) in which companies determine the appropriate freshwater targets based on location, scientific thresholds, and the availability of local models. Whether a company operates in the Indus, the Mekong, or the Rio Grande, the tool provides a structured path to setting valid, measurable targets that align with the Global Biodiversity Framework’s 2030 targets.

Corporate collective action (multiple companies addressing and solving shared challenges), especially in regions with water insecurity, is newly accessible through the information and data available in the BTTv.0.1. Many of the basins prioritized in the tool were selected based on their current risk of freshwater ecosystem degradation and high potential for corporate collaboration. By working together in places where pressure is greatest and action is most needed, companies can more efficiently act for lasting freshwater sustainability.

For WWF, the Basin Threshold Tool is a welcome advancement that can provide consistent environmental flows information in our priority geographies across the globe. The BTT aligns with decades of work supporting corporate water stewardship and reflects a growing consensus: that water challenges cannot be solved in isolation. By grounding locally relevant hydrologic and environmental flows information in science (and making that science accessible) the Basin Threshold Tool makes it easier for companies and others to manage water risk consistently and for the benefit of nature and people.

The tool’s effectiveness will grow as more data is added—but its real impact will depend on how decisively companies embrace it.