Water Baseline and Footprint Development

Jake Jacobi | July 2011

Water usage is receiving heightened interest among governments and businesses world-wide and domestically as water demand increases and available sources of fresh water become more limited. In a recent report, CERES has indicated that companies are beginning to focus on water management as a key risk, with 73% of surveyed companies reporting some level of physical risk, and 67% reporting increasing regulatory risks. Water management begins with establishing a water footprint to determine the amount of freshwater used to produce a company’s goods or services.

ScottMadden is continuing its series of reports on water supply management with a document that outlines an approach to performing a water footprint analysis. The four step process provided in this document outlines how to set goals and objectives in defining a footprint study, determines protocols for water accounting, indicates the implications for sustainability, and translates this into a reporting scheme.

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