But now there is a tool from Ceres a national coalition of investors and public interest organizations that goes beyond just reporting to help companies and investors assess and manage water risk: both water availability and water pollution.
The lack of standards for deep water drilling risk management will spawn a litter of over-reaching regulation.
According to environmental activist groups, hydraulic fracturing puts drinking water at risk.
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Recently, after 60 years of fracking experience with no evidence of danger and no authority to regulate it, the EPA is determinedly trying to build a case against the process premised upon possible ground water contamination risk.
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Even people who swim well in warm water are at risk for drowning in cold water.
The likely impact includes forest conversion to agricultural land, a drop in biological diversity as a result of monocropping and the massive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, unsustainable levels of water abstraction and a greater risk of water-related conflicts with local communities and neighbouring States sharing the same transboundary river systems.
"Mukhtar played an important role in providing vulnerable communities with access to clean drinking water and sanitation in areas where the risk of water-based diseases is high, " UNICEF Deputy Representative Hannan Sulieman said.
With timber REITs you trade the risk of fire, water and bugs for the risk of company mismanagement.
On the plus side, all this water-related risk equates to business opportunities as well.
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"It's pretty certain that water-related risk for business will increase over the long haul in more places, " he said.
The CQC found patients at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch had been left unable to get water and at risk of malnutrition.
In Pakistan, for example, the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), created under the auspices of UNESCO, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed the Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS), a risk-prevention system using data obtained via satellite.
Despite all of this, the percentage of companies disclosing water information through CDP has stagnated, there has been little increase in the companies citing board level oversight of water and a third of businesses are unable to state whether water poses a risk to their supply chains.
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Cognizant of the need for water managers, government leaders, civil society and businesses to work together to sustainably manage water under uncertainty and risk in an integrated and coordinated manner, UNESCO is hosting the Future Forum on "Global Water Futures 2050" at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 12 April 2012.
Water quality issues also create risk for companies, from stricter pollution standards on their own effluent to other entities polluting water upstream, requiring them to clean up water prior to use.
The impact of water challenges as a risk to national, regional and global peace and security, however, is perhaps less well understood.
The Director-General and Mr Kuroda agreed to work together to institutionalize cooperation in the field of water management, disaster risk reduction and education.
The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), a UN system-wide initiative, will amplify the benefits from global to national levels of efforts to adapt to climate variability and change for improved health, water management, disaster risk reduction, agriculture and food security from 2013.
During this session, water management under conditions of uncertainty and risk will be addressed through different perspectives - including water for urban settlements, valuation, pollution and disasters and the need for accurate information - with proper links to sustainable development.
Dr Gilhooly said immersed babies should be removed from the water quickly to avoid that risk.
This is because the numerous social and economic benefits of living near water tend to outweigh the risk.
Among the many uncertainties, will the cholera outbreak spread because of the heavy rain, and the risk that stagnant water will incubate the disease?
It had earlier said that drivers forcing their way through water were putting homes at risk of flooding caused by the wake left behind the vehicle.
The main beach in Weston-super-Mare received a pass in the MCS Good Beach Guide study, which focuses entirely on water quality standards and the risk of sewage pollution.
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Shale-gas producers also face opposition from greens, who object to the industry's heavy water usage and a small risk that fracking could lead to contamination of aquifers and even to earthquakes.
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The Bristol Ferry Boat Company said it saw a jump in the number of passengers as commuters decided to take the water to work rather than risk the icy roads and pavements.
It also ignores the considerable value of services derived from the physical, biological, and chemical processes in natural ecosystems, including nutrient recycling, flood risk reduction, water cleaning and storage, climate regulation, and maintenance of biodiversity.
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Environmentalists strongly oppose shale-gas extraction due to fears that fracking may contaminate water supplies, the oil-sands industry because it is energy-intensive and dirty, and deep-water drilling because of the risk of oil spills like last year's Gulf of Mexico disaster.
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Guernsey Water is investigating whether or not pollution laws have been breached because of the potential risk to the island's water supplies.
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