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Water Stewardship

Freshwater is a critical resource for agriculture, food security, and ecosystem resilience.

The fertilizer industry is committed to advancing water management solutions that support responsible resource use, safeguard natural ecosystems and communities, and enable feeding the world sustainably.

Read our industry position paper on water resilience.

Water Stewardship as Strategy: Cross-Company Trends in the Fertilizer Industry.

Fertilizer companies are tackling water management across mining and fertilizer production sites as a shared strategic resource rather than an ESG compliance exercise.

Collectively, they are building for efficiency at the source, scaling circular water systems, and investing in non-conventional supply to de-risk operations and support surrounding communities.

Across the portfolio of fertilizer companies, several themes recur:

  • Targets embedded in strategy Companies have tied water to ESG roadmaps with time-bound goals (e.g., Mosaic 2025 targets; Omnia’s 2030 goals), treating water as a risk and strategic lever to be on the board’s agenda, not just a technical or operational matter.
  • Designing in efficiency. New builds and retrofits prioritize process efficiency (e.g., BHP’s dry dust control and automation at Jansen; Nutrien’s filtration and pump upgrades) to reduce withdrawals before relying on treatment.
  • Shifting to non-conventional water use. There is rapid substitution toward desalinated and reclaimed wastewater (OCP’s 320 million cubic meters per year non-conventional capacity, Nutrien’s gray/ocean water use) to decouple output from freshwater use.
  • Closed-loop reuse and reduced discharge. Reuse is now standard operating practice (CF Industries reusing water multiple times; Omnia’s improvements in water recycling), paired with treatment that often returns water of equal or better quality to the ecosystems.
  • Watershed and community co-benefits. Programs are extending beyond company gates, for instance, OCP’s infrastructure that supplies drinking water to nearby communities, or Nutrien identifying and addressing water-related challenges and opportunities where it operates. These efforts are aligning industrial reliability with regional resilience.
  • Transparency and risk tools. Companies are strengthening disclosure and using basin-risk analytics (e.g., WWF Water Risk Tool at CF) to prioritize hotspots and track progress.
  • Innovation and partnerships. R&D and collaboration (UM6P and startups with OCP; AI-enabled control, membrane customization) accelerate scale and efficiency, signaling a pipeline of next-generation water technologies.

Together, these efforts mark a sector-wide pivot from an approach that can be described as “use and discharge” to one of “optimization, substitution, and regeneration,” which positions water stewardship as both a competitive advantage and a community compact.

BHP
BHP’s new growth project, the Jansen potash mine, is now nearly 70% complete for Stage 1, and on track to begin production by mid-2027. Once fully operational, Jansen will stand among the world’s largest potash mines.

Water efficiency has been embedded in the design of Jansen from the outset, with innovative technologies, such as dry dust control and automation that will ensure the mine uses less water than the average potash operation in Saskatchewan.

Read more.

In preparation for operations, BHP is developing a dedicated Jansen water strategy, setting site-specific targets that reflect local challenges and opportunities, while also aligning with the company’s global water stewardship commitments.

Read more about BHP’s approach and position on Water Stewardship.

CF Industries

CF Industries is committed to responsible water use, with comprehensive management plans in place that aim to improve efficiency, reduce consumption, and enhance water reuse across its production sites. Their approach is centered around:

  • Responsibly sourcing water: CF Industries is committed to sustainable withdrawal practices that account for environmental and social factors. The company uses tools such as WWF’s Water Risk Tool to assess water stress at its facilities in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. In 2024, CF Industries withdrew 141,001 megaliters of water.
  • Recycling and reusing water: Every gallon withdrawn is reused multiple times in cooling and steam processes before being discharged or evaporated.
  • Returning clean water to source: A large share of the surface water used in CF Industries’ operations returns naturally to the environment through evaporation, while the remainder is treated and discharged. In 2024, 75,144 megaliters of water were discharged, meeting stringent local quality standards and site-specific permits. In many cases, the quality of the discharged water was higher than when initially withdrawn, helping protect local ecosystems and biodiversity.

Read more.

Read more about CF Industries water management.

The Mosaic Company

As a global leader in concentrated phosphate and potash fertilizers, Mosaic recognizes that every harvest depends on water. The company is committed to safeguarding the water resources that make global food production possible, while setting new standards for responsible water use.

Through its 2025 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance Targets, Mosaic’s water stewardship efforts focus on preserving and maintaining water quality in the communities where it operates. For Mosaic, resilient agriculture means not only producing more food, but also protecting the water that sustains it.

Read more.

Mosaic’s commitment to responsible water stewardship drives comprehensive management efforts that include intensive recycling, facility-level conservation, strategic partnerships for maximizing use of alternative water sources, transparent reporting, and robust stakeholder engagement which all support water resources and sustainable food security.

To learn more about Mosaic’s water stewardship, including the innovative technologies it has invested in to reduce reliance on freshwater resources, please visit https://mosaicco.com/Water .

Nutrien
Nutrien’s water management strategy prioritizes reducing freshwater use in fertilizer production facilities by increasing the application of recycled water where technically and economically feasible, while also safeguarding water quality in local watersheds. In certain locations, the company uses alternative water sources such as gray water and ocean water.

As of December 2024, Nutrien had achieved its target of reducing annual freshwater use at higher-risk and higher-use manufacturing facilities by three million cubic meters, equivalent to approximately 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Read more.

Since 2018, the company has implemented more than 20 projects across its North American fertilizer operations to reduce freshwater use. These initiatives have included upgrading water filtration systems and pumps, as well as installing mixing systems that enable greater use of recycled water in their operations.

Read more about Nutrien’s water management strategy.

OCP
OCP Group’s water strategy is a transformative response to the growing challenge of water scarcity. Since 2008, the Group has pursued an integrated and scalable approach built on three pillars: optimizing water use, expanding the deployment of non-conventional water, and leveraging R&D and innovation.

As part of its climate adaptation strategy, and in direct response to severe droughts affecting the world and particularly Morocco, OCP Group accelerated its efforts in 2022 with the launch of its Green Investment Program and the creation of OCP Green Water, a subsidiary dedicated to the development, production, and management of non-conventional water resources powered entirely by green energy. Its mission is to harness unconventional water resources to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions.

Read more.

In July 2025, OCP Green Water began operating the J2K pipeline, a major hydraulic infrastructure capable of transferring 80 million cubic meters of desalinated water across 203 kilometers from the Atlantic coast to Khouribga, the world’s largest phosphate mine. This pipeline secures the full water needs of OCP’s mining operations, contributes to drinking water supply, and supports high-value agriculture in partnership with UM6P and its subsidiaries.

Since June 2025, the Gantour mine site has also been supplied with unconventional water from Marrakech’s wastewater treatment plant, marking another milestone in the Group’s water strategy. Together with the achievements in Jorf Lasfar and Safi between 2023 and 2024, these developments enable OCP’s mining sites to achieve water autonomy.

Beyond infrastructure, the Group is investing in water innovation through collaborations with UM6P and international startups, exploring technologies such as lithium and magnesium extraction from brine, AI-powered process control, membrane customization, and biosourced anti-scalants.

OCP is undergoing a fundamental transformation, embedding sustainability at the core of its strategy. Through OCP Green Water, the Group is delivering concrete results and advancing toward a circular, autonomous, and resilient water model—setting new benchmarks for sustainable industrial development and progressing toward a positive water footprint.

Find out more about OCP Group’s water strategy here and here.

Omnia
Omnia’s water stewardship strategy and management practices prioritize water security through conservation, efficiency, and recycling. By combining innovative research, proactive environmental management, and targeted investments, the company aims to reduce the environmental impact of its production processes, the products it manufactures, and the solutions it delivers.

Since 2020, Omnia has advanced sustainable water practices as part of its ESG strategy, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Over this period, the company has recycled 647 megaliters of water, reduced effluent discharge by 85% to 82 megaliters, and lowered potable water use by 14% to 1,588 megaliters. Building on these achievements, Omnia remains committed to preserving freshwater sources, reducing overall water use, and expanding water recycling and reuse.

Read more.

Looking ahead to 2030, the company has set new targets to reduce total water usage by 10% and increase water recycling rates by 15%. In line with its purpose of ‘Innovating to enhance life, together creating a greener future,’ these goals reflect Omnia’s ongoing commitment to responsible resource management and to creating long-term value for both communities and the environment

Read more here.