Major corporations in water-guzzling industries such as clothing, food, beverage and technology want to be better stewards of the freshwater they use — especially as drought, floods and other extreme weather intensified by climate change threaten their supply chains. But of 72 companies ranked by a sustainability nonprofit over the past year, few are close to achieving their 2030 targets. Last year, Ceres launched an effort to press companies with large water footprints to protect those resources and address related financial risks. … Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, said having companies report water-related sustainability targets and mapping their use across supply chains is an important step to using it better.