America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018
Risk & Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan
Community Water Systems (CWS) like other public services comprising the nation’s ‘lifeline’ infrastructure sector, face an array of natural hazards (e.g., floods, hurricanes, etc.) and human-caused threats (e.g. accidental and malevolent acts). Several events and conditions - including source water contamination, water infrastructure damage, and tap water elevated lead levels; and, increasing sustainability challenge from the aging and deteriorated state of assets - have increased national attention to these major threats.
The America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA)enacted October 23, 2018, contains provisions that seek to address threats to safe, adequate, and reliable drinking water, and other water infrastructure concerns. The law requires every CWS serving populations over 3,300, to conduct Risk and Resilience Assessments (RRA) and develop or update Emergency Response Plans (ERP). AWIA contains specific requirements for RRAs and ERPs, and deadlines for certifying the completion to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The team at S’QUAD Consulting Associates, LLC, comprising highly qualified professionals, are assisting water utilities of all sizes with RRAs and ERPs. Coupled with our extensive Infrastructure Asset Management expertise, our capabilities include evaluation of threats from malevolent acts and natural hazards to both physical and cyber assets required for compliance with the AWIA law.
We apply a proven methodology based on an “all-hazards” approach to conducting comprehensive assessments, performing rigorous analyses, and developing actionable and prioritized plans to manage systemwide risks. Our approach builds collaboration among stakeholders, subject matter experts, and regulatory bodies, to synthesize preparedness in the face of unwanted events. Results are integrated into the utility’s ERP, concluding the findings and results, insights and implications, and improvement opportunities.
Our approach ensures critical assets are defined and prioritized, applicable threats are identified, and associated risks and system resilience are evaluated to the level of rigor required for an effective Risk Management Program. Benefits include:
- The utility gains an understanding into where the priorities are to invest limited resources, and the order of magnitude improvements that can be achieved in operational costs and efficiencies;
- Governing and oversight agencies gain insights into unique challenges and recommended corrective actions that can be shared to drive continuous improvements; and
- Have an actionable plan (i.e. ERP) that: Identifies, deters, detects, and prepares for these threats; reduces vulnerabilities of critical assets; and, mitigates the potential consequences of incidents that do occur.
