Kimberly-Clark, Deltares and Western Cape Government Reconvene to Transform Water Data into Solutions

Last week, on the eve of World Water Week, Cape Town businesses, government and nongovernmental organizations gathered for a second water risk workshop to make determinations about what solutions to the water crisis in the region exist, and whether they actually mitigate water risk. 

The workshop was the second in a series of sessions to identify and implement water scarcity strategies based on WaterLOUPE, a science-based tool that helps identify water risks. The tool, designed through a partnership between Kimberly-Clark and Deltares, helps entire communities like Cape Town find community-based solutions. The workshop was hosted by Kimberly-Clark in collaboration with Deltares, the Western Cape government, and the Dutch Consulate. Once again, stakeholder collaboration was key.

“As water stress grows in cities around the world, companies are expected to step up to the plate to help solve the water crisis. For Kimberly-Clark that means applying solutions inside and outside the company fence,” said Jay Jackson, Kimberly-Clark’s Epping Mill manager. “Over the past six months, Deltares has worked diligently to create a robust dashboard that incorporated data from every stakeholder in the watershed. It was exciting to reconnect with this passionate group of community leaders for the workshop.”

WaterLOUPE is one element of Kimberly-Clark’s water program, which evolved after Kimberly-Clark’s leadership teams realized that if their water management approach only included their own facilities, the most important element for protecting water in the world’s most water-stressed cities would still be missing.

“If we reduce 100% of our water consumption, but our corporate and municipal neighbors don’t do anything, we are still in the same place— we don’t have water for our manufacturing needs, our employees don’t have access to water, and our consumers are standing in water queues,” said Jackson. “It makes me proud to be a Capetonian – and an employee of Kimberly-Clark – to see that public and private partnerships are positively impacting the water crisis and we are finding ways solve it.”

To go behind the scenes of the first Cape Town WaterLOUPE workshop, watch the mini-documentary here.