AWS Expands Sustainability Console with Water Usage Data

Takeaways

• AWS adds water-use data to Sustainability Console, enabling customers to track annual water withdrawals by AWS region, service, and account, expanding cloud sustainability reporting beyond carbon emissions.
• The new feature helps organizations strengthen sustainability reporting, assess water-related risks, and make more informed cloud procurement decisions.
• The update also supports AWS's broader water-positive strategy, which aims to replenish more water than the company uses by 2030.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded its Sustainability Console by introducing water withdrawal data, giving customers a more detailed view of the environmental impact of their cloud operations. The new capability allows organizations to monitor annual water withdrawals across AWS regions, services, and accounts, helping businesses include water metrics alongside carbon emissions in sustainability reporting.

The feature is available at no additional cost, with historical data dating back to January 2022. Customers can also export the information, access it through programmatic tools, and assign reporting permissions separately from billing access, making it easier for sustainability and procurement teams to use the data.

The update marks another step in broadening environmental reporting for cloud computing. As businesses face growing expectations from regulators, investors, and stakeholders to disclose their use of natural resources, water has become an increasingly important sustainability metric.

Read More: 6 Sustainable Water Management Solutions Driving ESG Impact

AWS introduced its standalone Sustainability Console in March 2026 to consolidate Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions data for AWS workloads. The addition of water withdrawal information extends the platform's capabilities, enabling organizations to evaluate both greenhouse gas emissions and water use from a single location.

Water withdrawals refer to the total amount of water taken from sources such as municipal supplies or groundwater. This differs from water consumption, which measures water that is not returned to its source, often due to evaporation. AWS calculates customer water withdrawal data using its Customer Water Withdrawal Methodology, an independently reviewed approach that builds on the company's existing carbon allocation model.

The expanded reporting could help businesses identify situations where reducing carbon emissions may unintentionally increase pressure on water resources in certain regions. This is becoming increasingly relevant as organizations seek a more balanced approach to environmental performance.

"We are expanding our environmental monitoring to include the water footprint of our cloud services," said Céline Lescop, Global Digital Sustainability Executive Lead at AXA Group Operations. She added that tracking water alongside greenhouse gas emissions and energy use provides a more complete understanding of environmental impacts while helping prevent unintended trade-offs between different resources.

The new reporting feature also aligns with AWS's long-term commitment to become water positive by 2030. The company has pledged to replenish more water than it consumes across its data center operations. According to AWS, it had achieved 75% of this goal by 2025 through improved water efficiency, expanded reuse of reclaimed water, and investments in water replenishment projects.

AWS said its data centers operate with water efficiency levels more than seven times higher than the industry average. The company attributes this performance to advanced cooling technologies, operational improvements, and servers capable of functioning at higher temperatures. Free-air cooling is used approximately 90% of the time where conditions allow, while evaporative cooling is limited to hotter periods.

In water-stressed regions such as South Africa, the Middle East, and Phoenix, AWS avoids using water for cooling to reduce pressure on local freshwater resources.

The company currently uses reclaimed municipal wastewater at 26 data centers and plans to extend the practice to more than 130 facilities across nine jurisdictions. It has also invested in over 50 water replenishment projects spanning the United States, India, Brazil, and Chile. Once completed, these initiatives are expected to restore more than 21 billion liters of water each year through watershed restoration, infrastructure improvements, and agricultural efficiency programs.

Also Read: Global Water Sustainability Index Brings Clarity to Water Risk in ESG Reporting

As demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence continues to grow, water availability is becoming an important factor in data center planning. By integrating water withdrawal data with carbon reporting, AWS is providing organizations with additional insights to support sustainability reporting, supplier evaluations, workload planning, and cloud procurement decisions.

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Source: ESG NEWS