Fixing The Water Sector's Resiliency Problems
We all agree that more can be done to improve preparation for catastrophic events in the water sector. Until we live in a world without natural disasters or security threats, that will always be true. But without access to more dollars, better equipment, and more public support, utilities aren’t in a great position to improve things.
The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), a federal advisory committee that reports to President Obama through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued a water sector resilience report and recommendations taking stock of how water utilities could improve infrastructure resilience, defined as preparedness for states of emergency, natural disasters, and security breaches.
To compile the report, six of the national CEOs who make up the NIAC membership were assembled into a working group. During a yearlong study, they conducted interviews with senior subject matter experts and employed a support staff to do open-source research. Additionally, a 16-member study group comprised of water sector leaders held a panel discussion with more than 50 experts on resilience. The final report has been submitted to the White House.
Among the findings listed in the report — which included better-known issues like the lack of funding for water resiliency, the lack of sophisticated equipment and expertise at smaller utilities, and the lack of public appreciation for the difficulty of providing water services — were the conclusions that resilience has not been adequately integrated into the actions of federal agencies and that water systems should be doing more to collaborate with one another across regions and jurisdictions.
Improving Flexibility
Regarding the lack of federal action to prepare utilities for disruptive or disastrous events, the NIAC report found that “federal agencies and departments that oversee the water sector, such as [the U.S.] EPA and state primacy agencies, are primarily focused on public health and environmental protection measures, and resilience programs are often voluntary.” Furthermore, it concludes that some regulations actually inhibit utilities from improving their own resilience and emergency preparedness, such as “building and operating cost-effective power generation or allowing for different water quality standards to be met during an emergency.”
To improve utility resilience and remove the federal and state barriers that hinder it, the NIAC report calls for the creation of a temporary, high-level federal coordinating body led by DHS with senior-level representatives from major agencies that have a role in water.
“One of the first tasks for the federal coordinating body should be to identify barriers to resilience and rapid recovery in existing federal laws and regulation through analysis,” the report reads. “The review should result in recommendations for statutory reforms that could promote resilient activities, encourage innovation, and provide flexibility in regulatory compliance during emergency situations.”
Reaching Across Borders
When it comes to what utilities can do to help their own resilience, the NIAC recommends focusing on collaboration.
“Although there are notable exceptions, water utilities within a region tend to plan and operate independently, leading to a lack of visibility and understanding of infrastructure system dependencies within metropolitan areas and regions,” per the report. “Multiple local and/or state jurisdictions tend to complicate cross-jurisdictional coordination and may cause utilities to react to an event independently without consideration for a regional, collaborative solution that would yield quicker and more cost-effective results.”
The NIAC blames a lack of regional goals, resource-sharing criteria, and performance metrics for the independent approaches that utilities tend toward. It cites the American Water Works Association’s Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network as an example of the direction more utilities should be going.
“Building and sustaining a resilient water infrastructure exceeds the capabilities of any one company or sector,” said Ginger Norris, alternate designated federal official, NIAC, DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection. “While the council aims its specific recommendations at the federal government, implementing any action will require robust collaboration and partnership among water utilities … The hope is that the average water utility will discuss the findings and recommendations with utility leadership and identify opportunities where they can benefit from greater engagement in water sector partnerships and cross-sector risk management efforts.”