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Water Security Information

WSCC Working Group Releases Water Sector Decontamination Report

The WSCC’s Water Sector Decontamination Working Group released its final report, which identified and prioritized key issues for the sector in addressing the decontamination of water systems.  Titled “Recommendations and Proposed Strategies Plan: Water Sector Decontamination Priorities,” the report aims to provide sensible recommendations for mitigating the contamination of water supplies by chemical, biological and radiological elements (CBR).

To download the report, click here.

Slideshow Available from Pandemic Influenza: CIKR Planning and Preparedness Workshop

AMWA, in conjunction with the WaterISAC and Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC), joined EPA and DHS in hosting a webinar for the water and wastewater sector entitled: “Pandemic Influenza: CIKR Planning and Preparedness Workshop.” The webinar brought together hundreds of water and wastewater operators from around the country.  The interactive, online discussion focused on sector specific issues regarding preparing for, responding to and recovering from a global pandemic flu outbreak.

To download the slideshow, click here.

NIAC Releases Report on Insider Threats

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) has released a report outlining its study on The Insider Threat to Critical Infrastructures. At the request of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, the report explores threats posed to critical infrastructures by those on the inside.  Specifically, the report highlights that an attack by an insider (employees and others with access) can result in anything from the loss of service or proprietary information to severe health consequences.  Summarized within the report are findings and policy recommendations to help mitigate this growing danger to the nation's critical infrastructures.

To download the report, click here.

AMWA Testifies on Federal Chemical Security Regulations

On June 12, 2008 AMWA testified before the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials that local water system managers are best equipped to decide the most appropriate treatment methods for disinfecting water and protecting public health.

To download the testimony, click here.

Roadmap to Secure Control Systems in the Water Sector Now Available

The report, prepared by the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) Cyber Security Working Group (CSWG), is intended to help water and wastewater operators identify and address industrial control systems (ICS) security.

To download the report, click here (login required).

Water Facility Security Survey: Results Summary Released

Last October, AMWA joined with five other water and wastewater organizations to conduct a survey of security protections employed at the nation's water plants.  A summary of the survey results is now available for members to review.

To download the survey results summary, click here (login required).

Gaseous Chlorine Webcast: Summary and Additional Resources

Last June, AMWA hosted a webcast entitled “Gaseous Chlorine and Its Alternatives.” The webcast features presentations by managers of several AMWA member utilities detailing their experiences in replaciGasasng gaseous chlorine with alternative treatments.

A CD recording of the webcast, which includes a complete audio slide recording, all Powerpoint slides from each presentation and speaker biographies, is available for purchase. (login required)

Additional Resources:

Water Sector Pandemic Flu Guideline

DHS has developed a Sector-specific Pandemic Guideline for the drinking water and wastewater sector.  Though coordinated through the Water and Government Sector Coordinating Councils, DHS bounded the scope and Guidance of the document.

A draft-final version of the water sector guideline is now available for download and distribution.  Once finalized, the document will be included as a new Annex to the 2006 Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Guide for Criteria Infrastructure and Key Resources.

To download the document click here (login required).
To view the WSCC’s letter to DHS regarding the guidance click here (login required).

Download the DHS Sector Specific Plan for Water Security

After a six-month federal review, the Department of Homeland Security recently announced the completion of all 17 Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) in support of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The Water SSP outlines the sector’s vision, security goals, protective programs, research priorities, and the processes for creating a security performance measurement system and prioritizing critical assets.  Columbus Water Works President Billy Turner led the water sector's effort to help write the plan.

As established by the SSP, the water sector’s security vision “is a secure and resilient drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that provides clean and safe water as an integral part of daily life.” The vision “assures the economic vitality of and public confidence in the nation’s drinking water and wastewater through a layered defense of effective preparedness and security practices in the sector.”

The SSP also identifies the following sector security goals:

        • sustain protection of the public health and environment;
        • recognize and reduce risks in the water sector;
        • maintain a resilient infrastructure; and
        • increase communication, outreach, and public confidence.

Download the Water SSP.

RAMCAP Water Sector Vulnerability Assessment Tool Project

What is RAMCAP?

RAMCAP stands for Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection.  It is a project of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is intended to provide a framework for analyzing and managing the risks associated with all hazards against water sector infrastructure.

RAMCAP strives to provide a consistent and technically sound methodology to identify, analyze, quantify and communicate the various characteristics and impacts that may lead terrorists to select a particular target and engage in a specific form of attack. It documents a process for identifying security vulnerabilities and provides methods to evaluate the options for improving these weaknesses. LEARN MORE

Download a Copy of Effective Risk and Crisis Communication During Water Security Emergencies 

EPA has yet to obtain sufficient copies of Risk and Crisis Communication During Water Security Emergencies to provide hard copies for AMWA members.  Sufficient copies are not expected until mid-June and AMWA will forward the copies as soon as available. In the interim, AMWA members may download a copy here.

Published by EPA, the document, Effective Risk and Crisis Communication During Water Security Emergencies, provides an easy to follow, step-by-step guide on message mapping for water sector utilities. Message mapping is a specific technique for developing effective verbal or written communication to deliver to the public and the media during a crisis.

The report outlines the background, benefits and steps to message mapping and details techniques for developing effective crisis messages. The products provided in the report include lists of potential questions that could be asked in a crisis and message maps developed for a subset of anticipated questions from each scenario. The scenarios were: possible chemical contamination of a reservoir, bomb explosion, credible threat of an unknown agent in a certain location, loss of power affecting water delivery systems, pesticide contamination and biological contamination.

The report also includes a list of stakeholders who will need information during a water sector incident as defined by workshop participants, and a list of several general rules of risk communication developed by Dr. Vincent Covello, the report’s primary author.

Dr. Covello is an internationally renowned risk communications expert and the director of the Center for Risk Communication in New York City. He is a prolific author and has consulted for several hundred public and private sector organizations, including CDC, the Department of Defense and the World Health Organization on topics including bioterrorism, SARS, and pandemic flu. Dr. Covello provided his expertise and insights to AMWA members at the 2006 Annual Meeting, and he will be with us again at this year’s Annual Meeting in Seattle to provide additional insights and techniques for communicating risk to the media and to the public.  

Water Security Information

AMWA has been a leader in water sector security since the 1990s and was designated the water sector coordinator for critical infrastructure protection prior to the tragic events of 9/11. AMWA works closely with drinking water and wastewater systems, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, other federal agencies and other organizations within the water sector to assist in developing and implementing enhanced security communications, preparedness and response capabilities.

In addition, AMWA developed and operates the online water security information services known as the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) and the Water Security Channel (WaterSC) initiatives to assist water and wastewater facilities in their security efforts.

"Toxic Trains" Report Enters Chlorine Gas Debate

The Center for American Progress recently released a report entitled “Toxic Trains and the Terrorist Threat: How Water Utilities Can Get Chlorine Gas Off the Rails and Out of American Communities.”  The report outlines some potential public health dangers associated with using rail cars to transport gaseous chlorine.

New Security Measure Development Effort Under Way

In January, the Water Sector Coordinating Council and Government Coordinating Council formed a joint Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) Metrics Workgroup to develop a national security performance measurement system for the water sector.  The group’s first meeting was held on March 13-14. 
 
Read the workgroup’s charter and/or view a metric’s ppt outline regarding how this effort fits in with previous measurement work and the Sector-Specific Plan (login required).

Business Continuity Planning the Event of a Flu Pandemic

AMWA has prepared a document, entitled Business Continuity Planning in the Event of an Influenza Pandemic: A Reference Guide (PDF, login required), to help water systems prepare for the possibility of a flu pandemic and the business interruptions it would cause. The document outlines basic assumptions or parameters that could be used for situational planning in addition to a checklist that identifies specific activities a utility could use to prepare for a pandemic..

Presidential Panel Reports on Resource Prioritization in a  Pandemic Outbreak

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council’s (NIAC) recently released report on national plans for a pandemic flu outbreak is now available. The NIAC contends that failure to maintain a healthy critical infrastructure workforce could result in the nationwide loss of clean drinking water, electricity, fuel distribution, air and ground transportation, food production and many other catastrophic effects. According to the report titled National Infrastructure Advisory Council Final Report and Recommendations: The Prioritization of Critical Infrastructure for a Pandemic Outbreak in the United States (login required), the water sector (all drinking water and wastewater systems) would require more than 600,000 critical employees to work during a pandemic.

Measures Testing Group Issues Final Recommendations To EPA

EPA’s Measures Testing Group (MTG) recently issued its final recommendations to the agency on how to evaluate options for implementing the national aggregate measures of water security recommended by the National Drinking Water Advisory Council Water Security Working Group (NDWAC/WSWG). 

A key aggregate measure is implementation of “active and effective” security programs as measured by the degree of implementation of the NDWAC/WSWG’s 14 program features and corresponding feature-specific measures. Highlights from the MTG’s report, Findings of the Measures Testing Group for National Aggregate Measures of Water Security, include a detailed listing of reporting options related to data collection for each national aggregate measure; reporting structures and timeframes; and verification, accompanied by corresponding strengths and weaknesses.

Quick Reference Guide for the National Response Plan.

This is a great, 27 page primer for the National response Plan giving the Where?, What?, When?, How? and Why?

The NRP establishes a single, comprehensive approach that the federal government follows for domestic incident management to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. (View/Download PDF File).

Water Security Practices, Incentives and Measures ("14 Features")

This guidance, better known as the 14 Features of an Active and Effective Security Program - provides the recommendations of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council.   It includes a checklist of the features and measures of an active and effective security program. (View/Download PDF File, login required).

Key Guidance Documents for Water and Wastewater Facilities

Interim Voluntary Security Guidance For Wastewater/Stormwater Utilities
The purpose of this document is to provide a centralized starting point for utilities as they integrate modern security practices into the operation, construction, or retrofit of their wastewater systems (login required).

Interim Voluntary Guidelines for Designing an Online Contaminant Monitoring System
This guideline is focused on the design of online contamination monitoring systems (OCMSs) for both water supply and wastewater/stormwater systems. This guidance is an initial step in an ongoing effort to develop the most effective, real-time OCMS possible (login required).

Interim Voluntary Security Guidance For Water Utilities
The purpose of this document is to provide water systems with an initial guide to the design of new facilities or the re-design or retrofit of existing facilities to create better physical security and reduce risk to the public water supply. To protect the public water supply, this guidance emphasizes the management and operations of the facilities and the facility design considerations that can make theinstallation and upgrade of physical security systems easier to implement (login required).

Water and Wastewater System Interdependencies with the Power Sector: Lessons Learned from the 2003 Power Outage (PDF download, login required).

The tie between the power and water sectors is one of the key infrastructure interdependencies currently under study with regard to ameliorating terrorist threats as well as weather and natural disaster impacts.  This study provides recommendations and lessons learned by AMWA members during a major regional power outage in 2003.

AMWA's State FOIA Laws: A Guide to Protecting Sensitive Water Security Information (PDF) 

A 2002 publication mostly useful for historical perspective due to numerous changes to state FOIA laws to improve security of water critical infrastructure unformation.  Other FOIA links:

Protecting Water System Security Information
National Conference of State Legislatures

State Laws Protecting Water Security Information (PDF download)

Other useful links:

Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC)
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