Primary Functions:
- Quantify water-related impacts caused by facility
- Quantify facility’s exposure to water-related risk
- Identify helpful management response
GEMI Local Water Tool (LWT)™ – developed by the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) – is a free tool for companies and organizations to evaluate the external impacts, business risks, opportunities, and management plans related to water use and discharge at a specific site or operation. The GEMI LWT™ is meant to:
- Help companies assess external impacts, business risks, opportunities and manage water-related issues at specific sites.
- Provide a common and consistent visualization platform for internal and external communication.
- Provide interconnectivity between global and local water risk assessments and a uniform approach between site assessments.
- Provide a central repository of information for the individual user to create reports for internal and external stakeholders.
The GEMI LWT™ uses company influent and effluent data, coupled with watershed data, to quantify the relative impacts and risks associated with specific facilities water use and wastewater discharge. It also identifies potential management methods to help mitigate those risks and impacts. Finally, GEMI LWT™ provides this data in a way that is consistent with common reporting metrics (especially those in GRI’s G4 Guidelines) and to encourage improved internal communication.
The purpose and functionality of GEMI LWT™ are mutually supportive and shares the same terminology with the WBCSD Global Water Tool (GWT). Companies can employ the WBCSD GWT to identify and prioritize high-risk sites in their portfolios. Users can also transfer specific site data from the WBCSD GWT to the GEMI LWT™.
