“We’re good at it now,” Tamara McKenney, co-owner of Apponaug Brewing Co., said Monday morning.

Condiments were neatly arranged like toy soldiers on a stand on one side of her. Boxes were piled high on the bar well on high tables. Windows looked out to the swollen, racing Pawtuxet River. A crew worked to replace drywall to the entrance of the Apponaug Brewing Co. The sun was shining, in contrast to recent heavy rains.

McKenney and her partner Kris Waugh were prepared to reopen Thursday, January 11  when river waters spilled over the banks and flooded the brewery for a second time in less than a month. The December flood, with waters rising two to three feet inside the renovated Pontiac Mill space, knocked out the kitchen, destroying freezers, food and spoiling beer in the midst of the brewing process.

Undaunted, they went to work and had everything up and running to reopen Thursday. Then like many near the river they got the forecast of another storm and heavy rains Tuesday. More flooding followed.

This time McKenney and Waugh fought back. Again the water infiltrated the brewery, but fortunately not to the level it did on Dec. 20.  Three to four inches covered the floor, ruining some of the dry wall that had been replaced. It didn’t reach a new cooler that now stood tall on concrete blocks. A crew of eight to ten spent hours “moving the water” to drains that were still working .

“We had the kitchen prepped and all back to normal, and then we had to reset,” McKenney said.

McKenney, who has a NOAA app on her phone displaying the river level and projections based forecasts believes that her woes and those of other business and residents suffering from flooding can’t be blamed entirely on Mother Nature. McKenney’s research led her to a plan to raise the Scituate reservoir spillway by four feet, which would have increased the reservoir capacity by 10 billion gallons.  She said the plan was embraced by elected officials but died from a lack of funding. McKenney points out that the Providence Water Supply that owns and operates the state’s major water supply should be equally concerned for those dependent on the system as those on the banks of the river. She also points to the loss of flood plains and the impact of construction and impervious roads and parking lots on the river.

While seemingly the addition of water downstream from Pontiac Mills would not affect the brewery, she points out that drainage, waste water from treatment plants and even high tide at the mouth of the river at Pawtuxet Cove affect the river’s capacity and its ability to cope with heavy rain incidents.

McKenney and Waugh aren’t crossing their fingers and hoping this will be the last of Pawtuxet River flooding. Dry walls within three to four feet of the floor that had to be removed following the December flood will be replaced with material that can be easily removed and dried out. Coolers and other equipment will be raised on cement blocks. Supplies are on shelves.

Fortunately, the electrical wiring was above the December flood and the brewery lost neither power nor heat. What’s tough is that not since Dec. 17, the last night the brewery was open, has there been a penny of revenue. The partners appreciate that they’ve never been big spenders, for now they have the savings to underwrite a projected $250,000 in repairs and lost supplies and equipment.

“What are you to do?” she asks rhetorically.

“Walk with grace or in misery,” she said

Quite obviously she has chosen the former.

And when might Apponaug reopen? It could be tonight. Check social media and the website.