Rough initial notes that emerged:

Drivers of corporate water consumption?

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• Companies more sensitive to cost of pollution than to cost of consumption.
• Companies sensitive to risks to their business process; so will mobilize around water if they perceive their business process is at risk.
• Companies follow others who innovate first; so who will be the first mover on the topic? (And where is this a role for citizen-sector/NGO or government involvement?)
  

Topic: "Water IQ campaign" People don't know where their water comes from. Educating people about where their water comes from results in a substantial drop in consumption.

Insight: People get water bills quarterly; is not frequent enough to make you focus on your water consumption.
Insight: And water bills don't often help people track and ;understand their water consumption.

Insight: Distinguish business practices around water for pre-existing companies for whom water is already internalized into their business structure (thus they are profitable about worrying about water, so why start worrying about it now), versus new businesses who are more likely to consider environmental implications on their business plans to begin with, thus they will respond differently to the topic.

Example from Ashoka in South America: Large urban water consumers (municipal governments, companies) can save money and save lots of energy/electricity by investing in upstream watershed protection to keep the water cleaner to being with, rather than waiting until it flows to the city dirty then having to invest so much in cleaning it up.

Example from Ashoka Los Angeles: Idea - using trees and greenspace as budget-based infrastructure investment; investing in trees saves money and manages water, storm runoff, etc., just as effectively.

Theory from Ashoka: Government policy will eventually follow (institutionalize, scale) this kind of initial entrepreneurial
action that demonstrates success.