Corporate Approach to Water Risk Mitigation and Crisis Management
1. Perform Value Chain Assessment: Owned Operations, Supply Chain, Communities and Employees, and Customers;
2. Perform Geographic Assessment: Operations in Relation to External Water Quality and Water Availability;
3. Develop Goals, Corporate Standards and Operational Tactics;
Once risk assessments of a company’s value chain and owned operations have been completed, the company should develop goals, strategies and operational tactics to mitigate immediate, short-term and long-term risks and capture new business opportunities:
• Corporate goals for water quality standards and water-use reduction are employed by many corporations to drive performance. Qualitative and quantitative goals should be developed based on water quality data and detailed assessments of a sufficient number and type of facilities to establish practicable reduction targets. Some companies employ vision or policy statements to clarify their intentions.
• Corporate standards for certain raw, treated, recycled and waste water processes, and technology, methods, and practices used by companies to achieve improved and consistent performance. Advanced technology solutions should be considered in areas of high water risks.
• Action plans to mitigate and respond to immediate risks and to manage water crisis should be created and implemented.
• Contingency plans to address water quality and infrequent drought and other acute supply risks should be created and reviewed on a regular basis.
• Early detection, real-time monitoring and measuring systems should be installed to track, analyze and report water quality and performance.
• Strategic business planning should integrate water risk mitigation and crisis management to capture opportunities and avoid new risks. When expanding existing early detection, monitoring and measuring technologies, facilities and finding sites for new facilities, local water risks should be considered to ensure good water quality and adequate supply for the operation and local communities. Product development should consider the water quality and water ntensity of products and their intended consumer markets.
4. Develop Contingency Plans
A contingency plan considers (a) natural and intentional contamination of water and environment (b) the nature of water supply disruptions that might occur, (c) the types of mitigating actions that can be used to maintain production, and (d) possible response plans for specific water disruption scenarios.
5. Manage Water as a Borderless Issue and Form External Partnerships
6. Supply Chains
There are multiple benefits to working with suppliers to promote sustainable business practices, including sustainable water management:
• Brand Protection and Brand Enhancement;
• Minimizing Supply Interruptions;
• Improve Water Quality;
• Lower Costs.
For companies with significant water-related risks in their supply chains, possible actions to reduce risk include:
1) Evaluating the supply chain portfolio to determine greatest risks and their causes (lack of water resources, lack of access to technology, limited capital resources or lack of regulations);
2) Setting minimum global performance standards for wastewater discharge quality or water-use intensity and including them in key vendor selection criteria;
3) Developing collaborative programs: technology transfer, feedback on product specifications and supplier best practice guidance; and
4) Balancing the supply chain portfolio in multiple geographies to minimize risk and develop contingency plans.
Collaboration with water risk and crisis management experts worldwide
Contact WRCM working group
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