Water Resources Beyond Corporate Boundaries: Watershed Collaboration in Kumamoto

Companies and Experts Discuss the Future of Water Resources

The session, titled “Water Stewardship in Action: Scaling Watershed Collaboration for Nature Positive Futures,” brought together companies and experts to discuss initiatives and challenges related to protecting water resources across entire watersheds.
Participants included representatives from Suntory Holdings, SSS, Geosphere Environmental Technology, and Yachiyo Engineering, while moderators were from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and WWF Japan.

In recent years, factors such as climate change, urbanization, and growing industrial water demand have placed unprecedented pressure on water resources. Even in Kumamoto, which is blessed with abundant groundwater, efforts to maintain a healthy water cycle throughout the watershed are becoming increasingly important to preserve this precious resource for the future.

Water Resources Require More Than Corporate Action

Kei Namba of the AWS, an organization that promotes sustainable water management, explained that: “Water is a shared resource not only for businesses, but also for local communities and the natural environment. Therefore, water-related challenges must be addressed from a watershed-wide perspective.”

Protecting water resources requires more than point-based efforts within company premises, such as reducing water consumption at factories. Instead, it calls for broader, area-based approaches that extend beyond corporate boundaries and involve collaboration with diverse stakeholders throughout the watershed. This concept is known as water stewardship and is considered essential for improving the long-term health and resilience of water systems.

As an example of this approach in practice, Suntory Holdings shared its experience with the Suntory Natural Water Sanctuary Initiative, a forest conservation initiative that has been ongoing for more than 20 years. The sanctuaries are managed to strengthen the groundwater recharge function of the forest, replenishing more than twice the volume of groundwater withdrawn at Suntory's plants in Japan.
Building on these long-standing conservation efforts, Harumichi Seta of Suntory explained that there are limits to what a single company can accomplish on its own. He introduced the Kumamoto Water Positive Design Center, an initiative involving five organizations from industry, academia, and the financial institution that seeks to create mechanisms for replenishing groundwater across an entire watershed—including not only forests, but also urban areas and agricultural land.

Groundwater Recharge Built on Trust with Local Communities

Next, Sadakatsu Nakamura of SSS explained that semiconductors are manufactured through hundreds of process steps, many of which require large volumes of water to keep wafers in an ultra-clean condition.
In semiconductor manufacturing, water is an essential foundation for the business that supports both product quality and stable production. At the same time, recognizing that water is also a vital shared resource for local communities, the SSS Group has continued groundwater recharge activities through agricultural field flooding since FY2003, in addition to reducing water consumption and promoting water recycling within its facilities. In FY2025 alone, the Group replenished approximately 3.05 million cubic meters of groundwater, equivalent to roughly 2.5 Tokyo Domes.

Nakamura explained: “What matters to local communities is not only the amount of water a company uses, but also how it engages with groundwater as a shared resource.”
Groundwater recharge initiatives are sustained by the cooperation of many stakeholders, including farmers, Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA), land improvement districts, local governments, and non-profit organizations. The trust built through continuous dialogue with these stakeholders over more than two decades has enabled these efforts to continue.
Nakamura emphasized that: “The water resource conservation initiatives that we have cultivated together with local communities in Kumamoto have become an essential foundation supporting the sustainability of our semiconductor business.”
His remarks underscored how strong relationships with local communities contribute to the long-term sustainability of business activities.

Science and Dialogue Support Watershed Collaboration

Yasuhiro Tawara of Geosphere Environmental Technology Corp. emphasized that science-based data plays an important role in enabling diverse stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of water-related issues. He then introduced technologies for visualizing the coupled flow of surface water and groundwater. He explained that scientific data can serve as a “common language” that enables companies, local governments, local residents, and other stakeholders to discuss issues based on a common understanding and helps facilitate consensus-building.

Hirohito Yoshida of Yachiyo Engineering also emphasized the importance of incorporating local perspectives into watershed initiatives. Drawing on his experience connecting businesses and government agencies as a consulting engineer, he noted that sustainable water resource management begins with understanding concerns raised by local communities and working together to develop solutions based on scientific evidence.

Watershed Collaboration Expanding from Kumamoto

In closing, Shunsuke Kobayashi of WWF Japan, who served as moderator, stressed that: “Water conservation cannot be achieved by a single company alone. Collaboration among diverse stakeholders across an entire watershed is essential.”
The SSS Group will continue engaging in dialogue with diverse stakeholders, working together with local communities to preserve Kumamoto’s water resources for future generations and advance nature-positive initiatives through collaborative action.