The Brewers Association (BA) today published the Water Risk Assessment Tool to help members identify and understand the specific water risks that threaten their access to high-quality brewing water and ultimately their business operations. Breweries are increasingly vulnerable to water-related business risks, including water scarcity, poor water quality, and climate-related disruptions such as floods and droughts. Because water is a shared resource, these problems can affect entire watersheds. Additionally, breweries may face local challenges; for example, aging municipal water infrastructure.

The BA worked with the Antea Group who extracted data from the World Resource Institute Aqueduct and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Risk Filter tools and leveraged their network of water experts to identify and evaluate regional and local risks. Using the collated results from these sources, current and future composite risk scores were calculated for individual locations. The Water Risk Assessment Tool provides scores for overall business risk, supply quantity, watershed quality, municipal infrastructure, regulation and governance, and reputational risk.

The Water Risk Assessment Tool is a snapshot of BA members in late summer of 2022. Members who have joined or renewed since that time can discover their risk by locating a brewery located near them in the same watershed.

If attending the 2023 Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville this spring, don’t miss the Water: The Ultimate Supply Chain Challenge seminar for a live demonstration on how to use this new valuable tool. Visit the BA Sustainability Resource Hub for more resources to help you operate your brewery more efficiently.