U.S. water and wastewater utilities are committed to meeting security requirements and continue to make progress implementing voluntary security measures, concludes a new analysis of water sector progress toward meeting certain measures of success.
Among the findings of the “2009 Water Sector Measures Analysis,” 87% of water utilities have "integrated security and preparedness into budgeting, training and manpower responsibilities" and 88% "receive screened, validated and timely security threat information from one or more sources."
Based on a set of measures developed in 2007 by the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) to support the Water Sector Specific Plan, the analysis reflects findings from the second round of data collection that was conducted on behalf of the WSCC by the WaterISAC.
The WSCC comprises representatives of the American Water Works Assn., the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the Water Environment Federation, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the National Association of Water Companies, the National Rural Water Assn., the Water Research Foundation, the Water Environment Research Foundation and the WaterISAC.
Also on the infrastructure security front, the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council Working Group released a resource titled All-Hazard Consequence Management Planning for the Water Sector. The document aims to help water and wastewater utilities incorporate all-hazard consequence management planning into their emergency preparedness, response and recovery plans and programs.
The report includes customizable lists of preparedness, response and recovery actions; consequence-specific lists of actions for hazards that are most relevant to drinking water and wastewater utilities; and incident-specific flow charts and checklists with links to the downloadable and customizable versions online.
Source: AWWA
