For many industrial and advanced manufacturing projects, water is becoming a first-tier site selection variable alongside power, labor, and transportation infrastructure. The result: water considerations are moving to the earliest stages of industrial site evaluation. Water quality issues can require additional treatment systems, increase operating costs, or necessitate process modifications. The site opportunities are getting “more and more narrow because all the sites that have the good water capacity or wastewater capacity are being taken,” Moses adds. The conclusion: many companies searching for locations should move water planning to the front end of the site selection process.