From commitment to credibility: How accounting guidance advances corporate water stewardship

As water-related risks intensify, the role of corporate water stewardship has become central to responsible business strategy. Companies face challenges tied to water scarcity, flooding, declining water quality, ecosystem degradation, and inequitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation—challenges with operational, reputational, and financial implications. These issues are highly localized, geographically variable, and shared with communities, governments, and other water users, making effective action both urgent and complex.

Companies are setting water stewardship goals, investing in projects in watersheds where they operate and source, and tracking progress against targets by credibly quantifying and communicating the benefits of their actions at the site and global corporate levels. To help quantify progress towards these water stewardship goals in a clear, consistent, and credible way, LimnoTech, World Resources Institute (WRI), Bluerisk, Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have collaborated to release updated, science-based guidance—Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting 2.0 (VWBA 2.0) and Water Quality Benefit Accounting (WQBA)—both designed to bring clarity, consistency, and credibility to corporate water stewardship.

The Evolving Expectations for Corporate Water Stewardship

Water challenges vary by geography and context. For some locations, insufficient water supply is the main concern; for others, it is flooding, declining water quality, biodiversity loss, or scrutiny around community water access. As climate change, population growth, and economic development intensify, companies increasingly recognize that operational efficiency alone cannot address water challenges.

While food and beverage companies led early stewardship efforts, a wide range of sectors are now implementing water stewardship strategies and investing in local watersheds. Technology companies are now among the most active, as the rapid growth in data centers, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has increased water demand and scrutiny. “Google uses the VWBA 2.0 framework to vet potential projects and quantify their volumetric benefits,” says Tara Varghese, Global Water Stewardship Lead at Google. “This standardized approach allows us to consistently estimate the impacts of diverse replenishment initiatives.” Google is both a user and funder of the guidance, applying VWBA across 112 projects in its 2024 portfolio.

What’s New in Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting 2.0

First released in 2019, VWBA became a best-practice resource for quantifying volumetric benefits of water stewardship projects.

The original VWBA supported a surge of corporate programs and volumetric water goals, pioneered by Coca-Cola’s Replenish goal. As these programs grew in scale and complexity, demand increased for a clearer structure and expanded guidance. VWBA 2.0, authored by LimnoTech, WRI, BEF, and Bluerisk and released in late 2025, introduces a refined six-step roadmap informed by 15 years of practitioner experience. 

VWBA 2.0 retains proven methods while responding to the growing sophistication of corporate water stewardship. The guidance demonstrates how to select relevant water stewardship projects, quantify volumetric water benefits, and track benefits over time, drawing on learnings from real-world applications. It supports practitioners not only in quantifying benefits but also in informing program implementation –  highlighting essential criteria for project selection, and best practices for quantifying, tracking, and communicating benefits.

For corporate teams, this transparency and enhanced guidance enables stronger alignment with enterprise water goals, facilitates collaboration, and increases confidence in reported outcomes. By maintaining a principle-based, non-prescriptive approach, VWBA 2.0 provides a shared foundation applicable across regions and project types while strengthening trust with internal and external stakeholders.

Expanding the Lens: Water Quality Benefit Accounting (WQBA)

As water stewardship programs mature, many companies are looking beyond volume to capture a broader range of benefits. Improving water quality and overall watershed health has become an increasing priority, particularly in basins affected by soil erosion, nutrients, bacteria, temperature, or metal pollution. WQBA builds on VWBA’s success by providing practical guidance for capturing water quality benefits and co-benefits of water stewardship projects aimed at addressing water quality impacts. Similar to VWBA 2.0, WQBA offers voluntary, principle-based, non-prescriptive guidance applicable across geographies and project types, guiding practitioners through the same six-step process and enabling them to address shared water challenges with confidence.

As Varghese points out, “Many of the local water challenges we see are centered around water quality. We [Google] supported the development of WQBA because it provides a standardized way to identify key indicators for monitoring changes and select practical methods for estimating benefits across a wide range of project types.”

WQBA provides scientifically-grounded, practical methods for activities ranging from agriculture and urban systems to sanitation and landscape management, helping practitioners select credible projects, quantify and attribute benefits, track progress, and communicate results consistently. Together, VWBA 2.0 and WQBA enable a holistic and consistent approach, giving companies the confidence to report meaningful, quantified benefits for both water quantity and quality.

From Guidance to Action: Who Benefits and Why It Matters

VWBA 2.0 and WQBA serve a wide range of organizations. Corporate practitioners responsible for quantifying volumetric targets and tracking progress can use the guidance to improve consistency and credibility. Organizations new to water stewardship gain a clear roadmap for implementing a credible water stewardship program. Implementing partners, including NGOs, utilities, community organizations, and engineering firms, gain a clear understanding of essential project requirements and can align project design, tracking, measurement, and reporting with corporate expectations.

The guidance also facilitates collaboration between corporate partners and on-the-ground implementers by establishing a shared approach and common language. Standardized accounting builds trust, improves alignment, and ensures mutual understanding of project benefits.

Corporate partners that supported this work include: AB InBev, Amazon Web Services, Apple, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Company, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Ecolab, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, Inc., Procter & Gamble, and Starbucks.

A Stronger Foundation for Meaningful Water Stewardship

As shared water challenges intensify, solutions increasingly require collaboration and impact at scale. VWBA 2.0 and WQBA provide the science-based framework for corporations to collaborate and implement programs that deliver tangible benefits for communities and ecosystems. Standardized accounting strengthens internal decision-making, builds trust with partners and stakeholders, and lays the foundation for scalable, long-term water stewardship that drives meaningful change.