Measure
Define practical units and reporting formats for water consumed, withdrawn, recycled, or offset by compute workloads.
An open protocol for water-aware compute
Water should become a first-class metric of computation.
Open Water Protocol is a proposed open standard for measuring, reporting, and accounting for water use across AI, cloud infrastructure, and the digital economy.
Today, digital systems optimize for speed, cost, and carbon. Tomorrow, they should also optimize for water.
Mission
Make water visible in the digital economy.
As AI infrastructure expands, water use is becoming a hidden input to computation. Open Water Protocol proposes a vendor-neutral way to track water intensity, prioritize high-value workloads, and publish transparent water metrics.
The goal is not to create another speculative token. The goal is accountability: open metrics, open repositories, open research, and eventually a non-profit foundation to steward the standard.
Prioritize
Help infrastructure route low-urgency tasks away from water-stressed moments while protecting critical workloads.
Verify
Create an auditable framework for public reporting, third-party review, and future ledger-based accountability.
Whitepaper
Open Water Protocol v0.1
Open Water Protocol is a public-interest framework for bringing water awareness into the age of artificial intelligence, blockchain infrastructure, and high-consumption computation. As AI systems, data centers, and digital economies expand, their hidden water costs are becoming a critical sustainability challenge. Open Water Protocol proposes a transparent, open-source model for measuring, prioritizing, and eventually coordinating digital activity around real-world water impact.
The protocol explores how compute workloads, infrastructure, donations, and public data can be connected to water-conscious decision-making. Low-priority digital tasks can be delayed or routed around periods of high environmental strain, while high-value workloads such as medical research, emergency response, climate modeling, and public-interest science can be prioritized. By combining open documentation, verifiable public ledgers, and water-impact accounting, Open Water Protocol aims to create a foundation for a more responsible digital economy.
This project begins as an open white paper and soft-launched public initiative, inviting builders, researchers, environmental advocates, infrastructure operators, and donors to help develop practical tools for water-aware compute, transparent funding, and sustainable protocol design.
In a Nutshell
Open Water Protocol turns water impact into a measurable signal.
OWP proposes a public framework for scoring digital infrastructure by its water demand, regional scarcity, compute priority, and transparency.
Core concept
WIS = W × S × C × T
Water Impact Score equals water use multiplied by scarcity, compute intensity, and transparency factors.
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Water Use W
Estimated liters consumed or withdrawn by compute, cooling, infrastructure, or workload activity.
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Scarcity Multiplier S
Weights water use higher in drought-prone or stressed regions, and lower where water stress is minimal.
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Compute Priority C
Distinguishes critical workloads from low-priority or delayable digital activity.
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Transparency Factor T
Rewards auditable reporting, open data, public methodology, and verifiable infrastructure claims.
Example:
100L × 2.5 scarcity × 1.4 compute × 0.8 transparency = 280 WIS
Repositories
Open by default.
Support
Help build open water accountability infrastructure.
Bitcoin donations support research, writing, prototyping, open repositories, and the formation of a future WaterChain Foundation or OpenWaterProtocol Foundation.
Bitcoin support address
Coming Soon!
Bitcoin will be accepted soon to support the development of Open Water Protocol.
Open Water Protocol is in the process of formalizing its nonprofit structure. Funds sent at this stage should not be treated as tax-deductible unless and until tax-exempt status is confirmed by the IRS. Funds received will be held for protocol development, research, infrastructure, public documentation, and related mission expenses. Fallback Beneficiary: If Open Water Protocol fails to formally launch or continue development, the remaining wallet balance, less unavoidable Bitcoin network fees, will be donated to World Resources Institute’s water work, including Aqueduct and related public-interest water programs. This does not imply a formal partnership or endorsement.
Contact
Researchers, engineers, water experts, and open-source contributors are welcome.
Email hello@openwaterprotocol.org or connect through the repositories above.
Founding Team
Building water-aware infrastructure for the AI era.
Open Water Protocol is being developed as a public-interest framework for connecting artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, transparent funding, and real-world water impact.
Nicola Bagnoli
Founder & Protocol Lead
Founder of Open Water Protocol and author of the initial white paper. Leads the project vision, public launch, protocol framing, nonprofit direction, and mission strategy around water-aware digital infrastructure.
Lou Jacobs
Founding Technical Collaborator
Supporting early AI systems strategy, development pipelines, and technical exploration for Open Water Protocol. Focused on helping translate the concept into practical infrastructure, tools, and future prototypes.