The Water Research Foundation defines One Water as an integrated planning and implementation approach to managing finite water resources for long-term resilience and reliability, meeting not only the economic needs but also community and ecosystem needs.

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The One Water approach is being adopted and implemented by cities, utilities, urban planners, engineers, community groups, and policymakers across the globe. Instead of compartmentalizing water into its various sectors – such as drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, recreational water, and so forth – and making decisions in isolation from each other, this approach mandates that we see it is all “one water” and work more collectively as a group when we address water issues.