SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Sun Shines on Golden Renmark Team 

Some of the best elements of water stewardship were on display in the South Australian town of Renmark when government, business and civil society leaders came together on the Murray River to celebrate the first gold level certification of an agricultural site.  Renmark Irrigation Trust (RIT) is the first agricultural collective to be certified and paves the way for other groups of irrigators, villages or farm collectives to follow in their wake. 
 
Both the Chair of the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the Assistant Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water said the Renmark experience showed significant potential for future collaborative water management in the Murray Darling Basin and beyond.  Assistant Minister Senator Anne Ruston said it was “a great opportunity for other regions and irrigation network operators to follow the lead of the Renmark Irrigation Trust and empower them to meet the requirements of the AWS International Standard."
 
Speakers, including the Chair of the RIT Peter Duggin, reflected on the significant and lasting scars left on the town by the Millennium Drought and their determination to rebuild a prosperous and thriving community through an ambitious 10-year plan.  The RIT set out ‘to be recognised as Australia’s leading water resources manager underpinning the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the Renmark community’.  Peter Duggin said AWS certification represented the pinnacle of the Trust’s achievement to date. 

Peter Duggin was presented with the AWS certificate, audited by UK conformity assessment body BMTrada, by AWS Asia-Pacific CEO Michael Spencer and the Head of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) who had funded the project along with NAB.  Congratulatory messages were received via video from the AWS CEO Adrian Sym in ‘sunny’ Scotland, the Head of the World Bank 2030 Water Resources Group Karin Krchnak, AWS Africa Manager Doreen Chanje and Dr Zhu Donglin and his team working on a tea farm near Nanjing (who invited the RIT team to visit them in China).

Read the statement by Hon Sen. Anne Ruston's office on RIT's achievement here.

AUSTRALIA
The Australian Water Partnership teams up with AWS Asia-Pacific to map the Water Stewardship journey

The Australian Water Partnership (AWP) has agreed to fund a project to document the history of water stewardship’s development from an idea during the Australian Millennium Drought to a global organisation engaging some of the largest companies in the world with activities on every continent.  The project will form part of the AWP Knowledge Series.

Mark Forbes, former Editor in Chief of The Age newspaper in Melbourne will lead the project and is currently interviewing a range of people in Australia and overseas.
 

INDONESIA
Water Stewardship as a practical framework for the mining sector

AWS Asia-Pacific presented the AWS Standard as a practical framework for action for mining companies (based on the benchmarking done between the ICMM water stewardship framework and the AWS Standard) at a two day seminar, 'The Mining Cycle' organised by Witteveen+Bos, Eijkelkamp and WLN. 

The seminar was a fantastic opportunity to share and collaborate with a group of senior mining experts and AWS's Country Representative in Indonesia will continue to explore solutions and collaborate with industry on this challenging topic. 

SHENZHEN, CHINA
Join us at the Supply Chain Environmental Management under the 'New Normal' Seminar in Shenzhen

Over the past two years, China has realized the full coverage of environmental protection inspection and strictly executed renovation on emission reduction. A large number of enterprises have been forced to stop production because of it, which results in brands’ supply chain disruptions. All of these have brought huge challenges to brands’ supply chain management. In addition, the environmental policies have been sharply tightened since 2018. In the new environmental-protection storm, enterprises are facing huge risks and challenges.
 
AWS Asia-Pacific and TÜV Rheinland are co-hosting this public seminar in Shenzhen on the 16 May, focusing on supply chain environmental management under the new policy era in China.  Experts from various fields will discuss hot issues of industrial environment management, sustainable water management, and green supply chain and so on. 
 
Register your interest now with Heather Zhen at Heather.zhen@tuv.com, or Zhenzhen XU at zhenzhen@a4ws.org

AUSTRALIA, GLOBAL
Upcoming Consultation on Version 2 of the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard

AWS International CEO Adrian Sym will travel to Australia next month to conduct consultation on Version 2 of the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard (the Standard).  The Standard is undergoing scheduled revision after three years of experience since being released in April 2014. 

The AWS Technical Committee recently held a face-to-face meeting in Vancouver Canada to review feedback to date and propose improvements to the Standard.  Asia-Pacific member of the Technical Committee, Michele Akeroyd, recently reported to the AWS Asia-Pacific Board that the meeting in Vancouver had been successful and encouraged all stakeholders to get involved in the review process. 

The consultation is scheduled for 1 June in Melbourne. For more information contact Carolyn Lambert, carolyn@a4ws.org.
 

Suite C1.04, Level 1, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street Abbotsford VIC 3067
PO Box 184, East Melbourne VIC 8002

ABN: 74 143 616 764

The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) is the global umbrella organisation for AWS Water Stewardship and has a network of regional partners to assist local implementation of the system. Water Stewardship Australia Limited, trading as AWS Asia-Pacific is the regional partner managing AWS Water Stewardship operations in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, South East Asia, East Asia including China and collaborates with AWS international in South Asia.