Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Government, Water Companies Team Up To Develop Secure Water Infrastructure
The Environmental Protection Agency and an organization of water utilities have begun working together to promote water infrastructure that can withstand terrorist acts and natural disasters, a federal official said Sept. 11.
EPA's Government Coordinating Council and the Water Sector Coordinating Council, which comprises eight water groups, are joining forces to set security goals, identify and assess risks, and implement protection programs, said Debbie Newberry, director of EPA's Water Security Division.
Newberry, who also is chair of the Government Coordinating
Council, made her remarks at a conference on water security sponsored by the
American Water Works Association.
The two councils were formed in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001. Possible threats to water utilities include physical damage to
infrastructure; contamination of water with biological, chemical, and
radiological substances; and damage to computer systems.
After hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused extensive damage to water utilities in
the Gulf Coast area in the fall of 2005, the councils added natural disasters to
their agendas, Newberry said.
All the programs under consideration by the two councils would be voluntary, she
said.
The councils are meeting to set security goals, identify and assess risks,
implement protection programs, and develop ways to measure progress, Newberry
said.
The draft goals of the councils are to recognize and reduce risks in the water
sector, increase public communication and outreach, and maintain a resilient
infrastructure, one that can function after attacks or natural disasters, she
said.
There are challenges in developing resilient infrastructure, Newberry said, one
of which is educating decisionmakers about water security and its
interdependencies with the 16 other critical infrastructures in the United
States.
Another challenge is the economic effect that would occur if fire fighters,
buses, hospitals, agriculture, and food processing could not operate or were
shut down, she said.
The water sector plan also must be coordinated with the overall national plan
for infrastructure security, which is handled by the Department of Homeland
Security, Newberry said.
Secondary Device Installed
Other challenges are deciding how to handle sensitive information, achieve an
effective program under a volunteer basis, and vie with competing priorities,
especially at the local level, Newberry said.
Lynn Stovall, chair of the Water Sector Coordinating Council, gave an example of
"resilient" water infrastructure.
Some years ago, he pushed for the Greenville, S.C., water utility to install a
"spool piece," a device that could bring up water directly from the watershed.
After initial resistance, it was installed, said Stovall, who also is general
manager of the Greenville Water System.
Now, if the Greenville utility were to be blown up, the spool piece would allow
collection from the watershed, he said. The water could be chlorinated, boiled
if necessary, and then distributed as usual, he said.
The spool piece cost about $10,000 of the entire $90,000 Greenville utility
project, Stovall said.
The water sector council, formed in 2004, consists of the American Water Works
Association, AWWA Research Foundation, Association of Metropolitan Water
Agencies, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, National Association of
Water Companies, National Rural Water Association, Water Environment Federation,
and Water Environment Research Foundation.