charting new waters: commitments to action

8/8/2019 Charting New Waters: Commitments to Action

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Charting New WatersA Call to Action to AddressU.S. Freshwater Challenges

September 2010

Commitmentsto Action

Issued by the Participants of

The Johnson Foundation

Freshwater Summit


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Charting New WatersA Call to Action to AddressU.S. Freshwater Challenges

Commitments

to Action

Issued by the Participants of

The Johnson Foundation

Freshwater Summit


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1Charting New Waters:

A Call to Action to Address U.S. Freshwater Challenges

As the issuers of Charting New Waters: A Call to Action to Address

U.S. Freshwater Challenges, we consider it important to demonstrate

our own commitment to advancing the vision and recommendations

presented. At The Johnson Foundation Freshwater Summit on June 9,

2010, each of us committed our respective organizations to specificactions to lead the nation toward a future of sustainable and resilient

freshwater resources. The commitments we made that day are out-

lined herein. We encourage other leaders across the United States

to also make achievable commitments to concerted action for the

nations freshwater resources.


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2Commitments to Action

Frank H. Akers, Jr.

External Chair, Science Advisory Council, Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Inc., commits to the ollowing actions: As part o our sponsorship o the National Acad-emies Food Sa ety & Security Initiative, we will raise issues o water quantity and quality, withthe goal o incorporating water stewardship into the Initiative. As we identi y best practices

or water conservation, we will share our fndings through the Initiative as well as with theparticipants o The Johnson Foundation Freshwater Summit . In addition, we will use the fndingsto rein orce our long-established and wide-ranging sustainability programs throughout Mars.

Chuck Clarke

Chie Executive O cer, Cascade Water Alliance

The Cascade Water Alliance is a nonproft corporation comprised o eight municipalities in thePuget Sound, Washington region that joined together to provide a sa e, clean and reliable wa-ter supply or its members. Cascade serves 400,000 residents and more than 22,000 businesses.Cascade is committing to a ull-cost pricing model with its member municipalities. Conserva-tion is a well-engrained ethic in the Pacifc Northwest, and Cascades WaterSense Conservationprograms and outreach have saved more than one million gallons o water per day over thelast three years. We pledge to make conservation a critical actor in our supply planning or the

uture. Cascade will urther commit to using a triple-bottom-line asset management approachor all uture capital and operating unding discussions. I personally will commit to educating

other utilities about the fndings o the Call to Action through both the Association o

Metropolitan Water Agencies and other member agencies.

Edward A. Clerico

Chie Executive O cer, Alliance Environmental, LLC

Alliance Environmental commits to the ollowing actions: We will continue to innovate andadvance the design and operation o water in rastructure, at the building and communityscales, that preserves and protects reshwater resources, habitat and biodiversity; that reducesenergy use and carbon ootprint; and that reclaims wastewater byproducts such as heat and

biosolids. By 2015, we will seek a net water/energy/cost savings o 50 percent rom the systemswe implement or clients. We commit to embrace economic models that support ull-costpricing while protecting social equity.


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Elaine Dorward-King

Global Head o Health, Sa ety and Environment, Rio Tinto

For more than a decade, Rio Tinto has recognized the strategic importance o managing waterresponsibly. Our strategy is to take a holistic approach to account or the social, environmentaland economic aspects o water by improving our per ormance, accounting or the value o wa-ter and engaging with others on sustainable water management. Consistent with the Rio Tintowater strategy and the principles identifed in Charting New Waters: A Call to Action to AddressU.S. Freshwater Challenges , we are committed to:

Continuing to improve our understanding o water inputs and outputs in our operations.

Continuing e orts to improve our water per ormance and our reporting on per ormance.

Continuing to improve our understanding o the value o water.

Identi ying and sharing good practice in water management and water accountingmethodologies either through broader coalitions or through our own e orts.

Engaging with stakeholders and governments on policy, programs and initiativesto improve sustainable water management in regions where we operate.

Roger C. Dower

President, The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread

The Johnson Foundation will widely promote and broadly disseminate the Call to Action and itsrecommendations through public briefngs, speaking engagements, online social media, andprint and broadcast news outlets. Over the next two years, the Foundation will partner withFreshwater Summit participants and other interested organizations on three con erences to ur-ther catalyze, expand and coordinate implementation o the Call to Action recommendations.During that same time rame, the Foundation will also ocus its unique convening resourcesto address two critical priorities that emerged rom The Freshwater Forum : water pricing andnonpoint source pollution. Finally, The Johnson Foundation will continue to play a leadershiprole in helping coordinate and shape the work o other oundations interested in addressing

U.S. reshwater challenges.


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Cecilia V. Estolano

Chie Strategist or State and Local Initiatives, Green or All

Green or All commits to the ollowing actions: We will lead undraising eforts to commissiona national study to calculate the job creation potential o the water sector. The study will ex-amine the types, classi cations and numbers o jobs, their skill and educational requirementsand projected wage scales, and the career pathways and occupational ladders that might becreated rom investing in our nations water in rastructure. This study will examine the job cre-ation impacts o deploying alternative and innovative technologies and implementing greenin rastructure approaches to solving our nations reshwater challenges. The study is intendedto in orm the national agenda on water in rastructure investment and shape work orce devel-opment strategies that can be used to meet the projected work orce demand that investmentsin our nations water in rastructure will create. We commit to engaging other partners such aswater utilities, business leaders, environmental organizations, research institutions, clean-techleaders, unions and work orce development advocates in this efort by 2011, with the goal o commissioning a study that will be released in 2012.

Andrew Fellows

Mayor, City o College Park, Maryland

I look orward to working with The Johnson Foundation and those who are joining in thisCall to Action , and to do what I can to urther the engagement o municipal governments ina trans ormation o the way the United States manages our reshwater resources. The critical

importance o water in developing sustainable communities is evident in so many ways. Sa eand afordable drinking water and swimmable and shable rivers, lakes and streams are vitalto public health and quality o li e. There are economic and environmental justice issues em-bedded in this work, and local governments need to act now and in collaboration with stateand ederal government to ensure that all have access to water and that equity is achieved inthe ways we manage water.

Richard D. Fox

Chairman o the Board and Chie Executive O cer, CDM

CDM commits to take the ollowing actions: We will work with our clients in increasing thee ciency and innovation o water management practices through advancing the concepts o integrated resources planning and sustainability. We commit to increasing our R&D budget,commensurate with our growth, and will prioritize these additional unds to developmento systems modeling, climate change and urban sustainability. We will set a goal o hiring 10percent o our new work orce that will have cross-disciplinary training in areas such as urbanplanning, nancial management and sustainable development.


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Robert Garca

Executive Director and Counsel, The City Project

The City Project commits to the ollowing three actions: First, we will continue to work onclean water and equal justice through multi-beneft projects to create, improve and protectparks and green space or all. We will ocus our e orts along the Los Angeles River and throughen orcement o Clean Water Act provisions in the city o Los Angeles related to agreementswe have reached with the city, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Cali orniaRegional Water Quality Control Board. Second, we will work with The Johnson Foundation togenerate support or the recommendations set orth in this Call to Action . And third, we com-mit to seek unding to do all this work.

Peter Gleick

President and Co-Founder, Pacifc Institute

The Pacifc Institute is one o the worlds leading independent nonprofts conducting researchand education to create a healthier planet and sustainable communities. Based in Oakland,Cali ornia, we conduct interdisciplinary research and partner with stakeholders to producesolutions that advance environmental protection, economic development and social equitynationally and internationally. We work to change policy and fnd real-world solutions to prob-lems like water shortages, climate change, habitat destruction and environmental injustice.Since our ounding in 1987, the Pacifc Institute has become a locus or independent, innova-tive thinking that cuts across traditional areas o study, helping us make connections and bring

opposing groups together. The result is e ective, actionable solutions addressing issues in thefelds o reshwater resources, climate change, environmental justice and globalization.

The Pacifc Institute commits to the ollowing actions: We will continue our work with theAlliance or Water Stewardship to develop water ootprinting standards and will share our de-velopments. In the coming months, we will fnish a book on 21st century water policy and willincorporate the Call to Action into our outreach and communication e orts or that project.


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Charles R. Gordon

President and Chie Executive Of cer, Siemens Water Technologies

Siemens Water Technologies commits to take the ollowing actions: First, through the Sie-mens Foundation we will invest in education and outreach or the principles presented in theCall to Action , ocusing on school-age children. For example, we could pursue an educationalcampaign on the value o water, where tap water comes rom or the costs o bottled water. Sie-mens Water Technologies has had some great success already with its Personal Water FootprintCalculator on Facebook. This application will be driven continuously and ollow the purposeo educating the public on opportunities to conserve resh water. Second, we will continueto invest in a sel -sustaining wastewater treatment plant to serve as a demonstration projecthighlighting the connection between energy and water. This plant will use a new process thatextracts energy rom municipal wastewater and will result in a 50 percent lower sludge yield.Energy content in wastewater is harvested as biogas and converted to energy to create a plantthat approaches energy independence. A scale-up version o the process is slated or pilot test-ing in October 2010, with commercial introduction scheduled or 2012.

S. Curtis Johnson

Chairman, Diversey, Inc.

Diversey is committed to doing its part to establish a sustainable and resilient reshwaterresource. We will ul ll this pledge by taking action both internally and externally. Internally,we will de ne our entire global water ootprint and set targets or reducing water consump-

tion and improving the quality o water discharge. Externally, we will provide our customerswith solutions that will enhance their water per ormance, making their operations more e -

cient and sustainable. In addition, we will continue to provide unding and expertise to theAlliance or Water Stewardship and the World Wildli e Fund as they work to develop waterstewardship standards that give all water users the tools to measure and improve water-related per ormance.


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Kevin Knobloch

President, Union o Concerned Scientists

The Union o Concerned Scientists commits to continuing our work with The Johnson Foun-dation and other partners to better understand and convey energy/water connections andcollisions, particularly in the context o climate change. Specifcally, we will engage experts indefning, developing and communicating new research and publicly accessible resources onthe energy/water collision, with the goal o ensuring that decisions to shape our nations en-ergy uture derive rom a clear understanding o the need to protect our reshwater resourcesand reduce heat-trapping emissions and move us toward sustainable, resilient energy systems.

David Kohler

President and Chie Operating O cer, Kohler Co.

Kohler Co. commits to the ollowing actions: We will reduce our environmental ootprint by 4percent per year with an end goal o zero including o sets by 2035. We will aggressively growour sustainable product lines, part icularly energy e ciency and water conservation products.We will educate our trade base and consumers on water conservation issues and practicesthrough marketing and multimedia outreach e orts. Recent examples o this have includedthe sponsorship o the IMAX flm Grand Canyon Adventure on the Colorado River and cre-ation o the SaveWaterAmerica.com website.


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Patrick OToole

President o the Board, Family Farm Alliance

The Family Farm Alliance has produced a document Western Water Management Case Stud-ies (July 2010) that illustrates arming best practices and success stories rom throughout theWestern United States. As our document was being prepared, we were asked to testi y be ore aSenate water committee about the report, which was seen by policy makers on Capitol Hill asa constructive approach to educating policy makers on how to solve vexing water challenges.We have since distributed the PDF version o that report to national conservation, water and

arming organizations; Western governors; Congressional of ces; key Obama Administra-tion policy makers; and the media, including blogs and group websites, where the report hasalready generated interest. It is available online at: http:// amily armalliance.clubwizard.com/IMUpload/Final%20Water%20Management%20Report.pd .

Going orward, we commit to working with interested parties to host watershed toursthroughout the West, with the goal o helping policy makers and practitioners understand andimplement collaborative, grassroots-based best practices or watershed management. As a

rst step, we will host a tour o the Little Snake River watershed in Wyoming one o the casestudies outlined in our report which highlights the successes that can be achieved throughintegrated, collaborative watershed management and the importance o locally led manage-ment e orts.

Carter S. Roberts

President and Chie Executive Of cer, World Wildli e Fund

The World Wildli e Fund (WWF) commits to the ollowing actions: We will complete our work with the Alliance or Water Stewardship, in partnership with Diversey, Inc. and others, to de-velop voluntary standards or water stewardship. Working with growers in the eld and leaderso major commodities industries such as corn, soy, co ee and sugar, we will develop moreef cient and sustainable water use practices. We will continue our work with Mars, Coke, Kra t,Walmart and other industry leaders to advance this area. We will work with Stan ord Univer-sity, The Nature Conservancy and other partners to develop the policy and market conditionsnecessary or the viable trading o ecosystem services. We will work with government, theprivate sector and nongovernmental organizations to develop water conservation and man-agement regimes that are adaptive in the ace o climate change. We will implement all theseapproaches in the WWFs priority conservation areas around the world, which in the UnitedStates includes the Northern Great Plains, the rivers and streams o the Southeastern UnitedStates, the Chihuahuan Desert and the U.S. Arctic.


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Jefry Sterba

Chairman o the Board, PNM Resources

PNM Resources commits to the ollowing actions: We will continue our water sustainabilityocus to reduce the intensity o reshwater use o our generation port olio while we prepareor a carbon-constrained uture. We commit that all uture acilities will be evaluated or zero-

discharge or dry-cooling, i practicable. We will also continue our involvement in helping todevelop appropriate water markets in the Southwest United States to enable new mechanisms

or the trading o water rights while respecting the unique role o water in the Southwests

culture and heritage.

Rebecca Wodder

President, American Rivers

Our long-term goal is that healthy rivers contribute to the resilience o both human and naturalcommunities. This requires undamental changes in the way we manage land, water and in ra-structure. Over the next three years, American Rivers will identi y, develop, test and communi-cate new models o water management and policy that manage or the volatility and uncer-tainty o a changing climate. We will share these models through the web, the media, speakingengagements and briefngs and advocate policies that oster their widespread adoption.

American Rivers is also committed to building a constituency or community stewardship o healthy watersheds through two primary mechanisms. The establishment and promotion o a

national blueways initiative (the water equivalent o greenways) seeks to better link commu-nities with the natural world and specifcally reshwater. Our National River Clean-up Programaims to oster a spirit and ethos o volunteerism around rivers and serves as a power ul entrypoint or millions o Americans to take action and learn more about what they can do to bet-ter manage water and rivers. Finally, we will advocate on behal o many o the policy recom-mendations contained in the Call to Action , including but not limited to the establishment o a Freshwater Commission.


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The time to lead is now.

www.johnsonfdn.org/chartingnewwaters


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Lynn Broaddus, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Director, Environment Programs The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread33 E. Four Mile Rd.Racine, WI 53402(262) 681-3344www.johnson dn.org

John Ehrmann, Ph.D.Senior PartnerMeridian InstitutePO Box 1829105 Village PlaceDillon, CO 80435(970) 513-8340www.merid.org

These are the Commitments to Action made by participants o

The Johnson Foundation Freshwater Summit , an intensive collab-

orative efort among leaders rom business, nongovernmental

organizations, agriculture, academia, government, oundations

and communities to unite around the challenges acing U.S.

reshwater resources and catalyze solutions to address them. The

complete text o Charting New Waters: A Call to Action to Address

U.S. Freshwater Challenges and supporting in ormation can be

ound at www.johnson dn.org/chartingnewwaters. For more

in ormation, please contact:

It has been said there are two ways to achieve change through crisis

or through leadership. Freshwater is too important to our ecosystems,

communities and national security to wait for a crisis.

charting new waters: commitments to action

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