How water utilities can improve preparedness planning Nushat Thomas, MS, RS, Environmental Protection Specialist, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.; Jonathan Reeves, Emergency Response and Planning Coordinator, DC Water, Washington, D.C.
rinking water and wastewater utility preparedness activities can be overlooked in this tough economic climate. The process of developing training and scheduling exercises is timeconsuming and labor intensive, especially considering that many utilities lack a dedicated staff member assigned to this task. Nonetheless, planning is the most important step in the preparedness cycle and being prepared is essential to a utility’s ability to respond and recover from an emergency. Training and exercise plans, in turn, are a
critical component of the planning process and help utilities track their preparedness and increase response capacity to future incidents, such as Hurricane Sandy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) released “How to Develop a Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan” to assist all utilities, big and small, in developing a multi-year training and exercise plan. As a side benefit, the Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan (T&E Plan) is compliant with the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security and
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APWA Reporter
February 2013
Exercise Evaluation Program. The document provides training resources, templates and useful background information to make the planning process easier for utility planning teams. In addition, the document helps utilities to understand the types of exercises that will best meet their needs. Emergency response training helps employees to understand their roles and responsibilities in emergencies and should occur at least annually for all employees to maintain familiarization with procedures and to provide necessary updates caused by changes within the utility. In addition, dedicated emergency response staff should take courses to familiarize themselves with the Incident Command System (ICS) structure and National Incident Management System (NIMS). ICS helps the utility to integrate into a common organizational structure within the response community and NIMS is a universal system for incident management. This training is available both online at http://training.fema. gov/emi/ and as classroom sessions (contact your local EMA for more details). Developing a plan helps to ensure prioritization of training needs and creates a system of accountability. Exercising is the fifth step in the preparedness cycle following the assessment of threats, vulnerabilities, identification of shortfalls and implementation. It provides opportunities for practice prior to an actual incident. While tabletop exercises are most often used, utilities should familiarize themselves with