The EWS comprises:

•  The European Water Stewardship (EWS) standard
•  The referring glossary and guideline.
•  The EWS multi-site standard.
•  The certification scheme.
•  The referring EWS group certification scheme.
•  The communication scheme.

There are 4 principles with 14 criteria covering the following areas of sustainable water management:

1. Achieve and maintain sustainable water abstraction in terms of water quantity.
2. Ensure the achievement and maintenance of good water status in terms of chemical quality and biological elements.
3. Restore and preserve water-cycle related High Conservation Value (HCV) areas
4. Achieve equitable and transparent water governance.

It is against these principles, criteria and referring 53 indicators, that a compliance assessment is conducted.

Compliance leads to the following benefits:

•  Performance indicator of corporate water resource management.
•  Best practice tool.
•  Independent proof of sustainable water management for stakeholders.
•  Internal benchmarking and target setting device for water management strategies.
•  Improved and optimized resource management at production site-level.
•  Enhanced awareness and leadership within river basin activities.
•  Visibility for and access to markets.