Water Disclosure Intent Taxonomy

1. Purpose

This section defines the Water Disclosure Intent (CDI) taxonomy for water-related sustainability disclosures.

The Water taxonomy enumerates a stable set of disclosure intents that capture the semantic meaning of commonly requested water-related information across reporting frameworks.

The taxonomy:

  • is independent of any reporting standard or regulation,
  • does not prescribe disclosure obligations,
  • does not assert environmental performance, impact, or stewardship,
  • is intended to be reused across frameworks via Canonical Mapping Packs (CMPs).

Water CDIs treat water as an operational resource, not as an environmental impact or risk domain.

2. Taxonomy Structure

Water disclosure intents are grouped into the following logical domains:

  1. Water Withdrawal & Consumption
  2. Water Discharge
  3. Water Sourcing & Supply
  4. Water Reuse & Recycling
  5. Water Intensity
  6. Water Management & Measurement
  7. Change & Dependency

Each disclosure intent:

  • has a unique identifier,
  • represents a single semantic concept,
  • may be quantitative, narrative, or hybrid,
  • may reference one or more canonical data elements.

3. Water Disclosure Intents

3.1 Water Withdrawal & Consumption

CDI-WATR-01
Total water withdrawn

The total volume of water withdrawn by the organisation over the reporting period.

CDI-WATR-02
Water withdrawal by source type

Water withdrawn, disaggregated by source type.

CDI-WATR-03
Water withdrawal by operational boundary

Water withdrawn, disaggregated by organisational or operational boundary.

CDI-WATR-04
Total water consumed

The total volume of water consumed by the organisation over the reporting period.

CDI-WATR-05
Water consumption by activity or process

Water consumption disaggregated by activity, process, or operational use.

3.2 Water Discharge

CDI-WATR-06
Total water discharged

The total volume of water discharged by the organisation over the reporting period.

CDI-WATR-07
Water discharge by destination

Water discharged, disaggregated by destination or receiving body.

CDI-WATR-08
Water discharge by operational boundary

Water discharged, disaggregated by organisational or operational boundary.

3.3 Water Sourcing & Supply

CDI-WATR-09
Use of surface water sources

The organisation’s use of surface water sources for operational purposes.

CDI-WATR-10
Use of groundwater sources

The organisation’s use of groundwater sources for operational purposes.

CDI-WATR-11
Use of third-party or municipal water supply

The organisation’s reliance on water supplied by third parties or municipal systems.

3.4 Water Reuse & Recycling

CDI-WATR-12
Volume of water reused or recycled

The volume of water reused or recycled within organisational operations.

CDI-WATR-13
Water reuse or recycling processes

The processes or systems used to enable water reuse or recycling.

3.5 Water Intensity

CDI-WATR-14
Water intensity metric

Water use normalised by a defined activity, output, or business metric.

CDI-WATR-15
Water data normalisation method

The method used to normalise water withdrawal, consumption, or discharge data.

3.6 Water Management & Measurement

CDI-WATR-16
Water management practices or systems

The existence of organisational practices or systems for managing water use.

CDI-WATR-17
Organisational responsibility for water management

The assignment of roles or responsibilities for managing water-related operations.

CDI-WATR-18
Processes for monitoring or measuring water use

The processes used to monitor, measure, or track water withdrawal, consumption, or discharge.

3.7 Change & Dependency

CDI-WATR-19
Operational dependency on specific water sources

The organisation’s dependency on specific water sources for continued operations.

CDI-WATR-20
Changes in water use patterns

Material changes in water withdrawal, consumption, discharge, or sourcing compared to a prior reporting period.

4. Taxonomy Characteristics

  • Water CDIs are distinct from climate, energy, and biodiversity CDIs.
  • Water CDIs focus on operational water data, not environmental impact or risk.
  • Each CDI may map to multiple framework requirements via CMPs.
  • Framework-specific nuance is handled exclusively through CMPs.
  • Deprecated CDIs remain referenceable for historical disclosures.

5. Summary

The CDI v1 Water Taxonomy defines a stable semantic vocabulary for expressing water-related disclosure meaning across reporting frameworks.

By separating operational water disclosures from impact, risk, and compliance considerations, the taxonomy enables consistent data modelling, reuse, and transparent interpretation without embedding judgement or policy.

Water Taxonomy Version: v1.0.0

Water CDI v1 Status

The Water Disclosure Intent taxonomy defined in this document is frozen as CDI v1.

No new Water CDIs will be added to v1.
Future extensions will require a new major version.

Status: Frozen
Effective version: CDI v1

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