# Member
Welcome to the Water Stewards Verification Programme.
The Programme utilises the International Water Stewardship Standard (“the Standard”), but is designed to be scalable, affordable, flexible, and ambitious yet attainable – all whilst leading to quantitative improvements in outcomes for water dependent ecosystems and communities. Water stewards participating in the Programme move through five main stages of participation: Member, Commit, Implement, Verify, and Advanced Verify (Four-Star and Five-Star).
As a Member of WSAP, you have met the criteria of Stage 1 of the Programme.
Please click on Start Verification to begin Stage 2 of the Water Stewards Verification Programme - Commit.
# Commit
Stage Two of the Programme is commitment. Here, Participants are required to maintain their membership of WSAP; pay a fee to start this Programme; publicly commit to the philosophy, concept and process of water stewardship through the Verification Programme; gather and understand information about their site’s water impacts and their catchment as a whole; and then develop a Water Stewardship Strategy and a Water Stewardship Plan.
An internal review must be completed by Water Stewardship Asia Pacific to demonstrate compliance with the required indicators and criteria. Once approved the organisation can progress to Stage Three (Implement) of the Programme. Participants must complete an Annual Communication of Progress within 12 months of their internal review.
To maintain the Commit level of verification (if not continuing to Stage Three of the Programme), an Annual Communication of Progress must be submitted every 12 months.
# Implement
Stage Three of the Programme is implementation. Here, Participants are required to maintain their membership of WSAP, and implement the actions set out in their Water Stewardship Plan towards achieving water stewardship outcomes.
An internal review must be completed by Water Stewardship Asia Pacific to demonstrate compliance with the required indicators and criteria. Once approved the organisation can progress to Stage Four (Verify) of the Programme. Participants must complete an Annual Communication of Progress within 12 months of their internal review..
To maintain the Implement level of verification (if not continuing to Stage Four of the Programme), an Annual Communication of Progress must be submitted every 12 months.
# Verify
Stage Four of the Programme is verification. Here, Participants are required to maintain their membership of WSAP, and be audited by an Authorised Auditor to verify that they have implemented the actions set out in their Water Stewardship Plan. They are also required to evaluate the actions taken and their effectiveness, as well as publicly disclose their efforts.
A Third-party Audit must be conducted by an Authorised Auditor to verify compliance with the required indicators and criteria, and be approved by Water Stewardship Asia Pacific. To maintain the Verify level of verification, a Maintenance Audit must be completed by an Authorised Auditor to the satisfaction of Water Stewardship Asia Pacific once every three years from the date of the first Verify level audit. Such audits will pay special attention to any issues raised through the Annual Communication of Progress in the years between audits.
Participants must complete an Annual Communication of Progress every 12 months in any year that a Maintenance Audit is not completed.
# Advanced Verify
Stage Five of the Programme is advanced-level verification . Here, Participants are required to maintain their membership of WSAP, complete all of the earlier Programme stages, complete advanced water stewardship actions, and be audited by an Authorised Auditor to demonstrate achievement.
To achieve four-star verification, Participants must complete enough advanced Standard indicators to obtain a total of between 40 and 79 points. Please refer to the scoring matrix in the Resources.
To achieve five-star verification, Participants must complete enough advanced Standard indicators to obtain a total of above 80 points. Please refer to the scoring matrix in the Resources.
A Third-party Audit must be completed by an Authorised Auditor to the satisfaction of Water Stewardship Asia Pacific to demonstrate achievement of the required indicators, criteria and points.
To maintain either Verify Four- or Five-Star level, a Maintenance Audit must be completed by an Authorised Auditor to the satisfaction of Water Stewardship Asia Pacific once every three years from the date of the first Advanced Verify audit. Such audits will pay special attention to any issues raised through the Annual Communication of Progress in the years between audits.
Participants must complete an Annual Communication of Progress every 12 months in any year that a Maintenance Audit is not completed.
[Read more](./advanced verify.html)