How To Recognize, Strategize, And Monetize Water Risk

By Mark LeChevallier, principal and manager, Dr. Water Consulting, LLC

There’s no denying that conversations are readily available on all types of “costs” of addressing the global water crisis: the cost to the environment; the cost to be paid by future generations; the costs of not keeping on top of water infrastructure maintenance and reinforcement; the cost to private households, etc.

The U.S. Water Alliance has taken huge strides to help businesses worldwide assess the costs to them as well, putting water responsibility (or irresponsibility) in terms that the business world can understand — the bottom line. And if you’re thinking right now, “Oh, I don’t own or help run a business, I can stop reading this,” think again! The powerful tool that is helping companies recognize, strategize, and monetize water’s impact on the bottom line can have quite a trickle-down effect (pun intended) on every consumer, their communities, and future generations.

The tool is called the Water Risk Monetizer, and it is free, available now for use, and full of potential for advancing local, national, and global goals for water conservation and sustainability. In essence, the Water Risk Monetizer helps a corporation look at the potential costs and benefits of their water-use strategies … in dollars and cents. Moreover, the Monetizer doesn’t just provide the awareness — it provides the guidelines to integrate smart water strategy into business strategies for achieving corporate growth objectives.

The Monetizer as a calculator of water risk and roadmap for water strategies entails, by nature, a complex formula. But this is also what makes it such a powerful one. For example, it allows decision-makers to take into account all these levels of risk that can make or break a company, such as operational, reputational, regulatory, stranded asset, and market risks.

Some of the actions the Monetizer empowers business decision-makers to take include:

• Incorporate a risk-adjusted cost of water into a facility budget, financial projections, business scenarios, project proposals, etc.
• Make the case for proactive water management strategies (solutions, technologies, programs, etc.)
• Identify operations/locations at greatest risk
• Monetize rate of return for water management improvement projects
• Select where and how to increase production
• Determine where to expand to meet demand in new regions

I’ve only barely scratched the surface of the resources the Water Risk Monetizer has to offer virtually any business, small or large. I encourage you to take a closer look at waterriskmonetizer.com to get a better idea of how “Water Monetized Business” translates into “smarter business.”