Measuring water risk: a survey of supply chain management topics

Sustainability has long been recognized as a fundamental practice in manufacturing. In recent years, firms have been devoting resources to reduce their carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use. In this paper, we review the literature related to the problem of measuring and acting upon water risk in the supply chain. Unlike other environmental concerns, water risk is a local phenomenon that needs to be quantified at the catchment level. Thus, the impact of a production process cannot be location-agnostic and must be analyzed within its particular context-ideally at the production site level. Furthermore, recent trends in manufacturing (such as “local production”) are expected to put increased pressure in areas where regulations are lax and water risk is high (e.g., India, China).