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Safe drinking water and reliable wastewater disposal is a cornerstone of our society. The Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is dedicated to ensuring safe drinking water provision and proper wastewater disposal. Partnering with communities and water/wastewater providers in the state to protect these critical services supports our mission to protect and restore Colorado’s water quality for public health, the environment, and future generations. This article will explore simple techniques to build resilience in your water/wastewater system to help you maintain water utilities now, during emergencies, and for decades to come. With increased resilience comes better protection of the public and environmental health benefiting drinking water consumers, recreators, wildlife, and streams and lakes.
When we discuss water utility resilience we have two main areas to explore, the present and the future. Looking at the present we evaluate a system’s current situation to identify how the facilities are meeting standards and protecting public health and the environment. When we look to the future we are thinking of where money and energy needs to be spent to continue to protect public health and the environment in our changing world. Looking to the future involves also planning for emergencies and upsets to the system. Here are a few examples of how to evaluate the present and future of your water system to build resilience:
Technical Capacity
Now: How is your water and wastewater being treated? Is your facility meeting the bare minimum or are you going above and beyond the regulations? What additional actions could your operational staff take to ensure public health is being protected? Do you have documented procedures to carry out critical tasks? Is your system protected from malicious actors (both physical and cyber)?
Future: How will you maintain treatment in years to come? How will you maintain treatment during emergencies? What is the framework for future regulations and how will your facility meet the new requirements?
Managerial Capacity
Now: Who is overseeing the running of your water/wastewater facility? Are they qualified? Do you have correctly defined roles and responsibilities? Are you connected with your critical customers and sector partners?
Future: Do you have redundancy of critical decision makers (Operators in Responsible Charge) to operate during an emergency? Are you training future personnel to take over the oversight of your facility when current staff leave? How will you communicate with your customers during an emergency situation?
Financial Capacity
Now: Are your rates set to adequately operate and manage your water/wastewater facilities?
Future: Do you have a budget plan for the future that assesses the age of your infrastructure and timing for when you will need to replace key elements of your system? Are you prepared financially for an emergency that impacts your whole system?
If you are a decision maker or an administrator for a water or wastewater system these questions can be overwhelming. But, taking the time and energy to build resilience is a crucial step to protect the health of your community now and for years to come. The Environmental Protection Agency created a framework for building water infrastructure resilience to aid in this crucial task:
- Conduct an assessment and reduce risk
- Plan for and practice responding to emergencies
- Monitor systems for contaminants
Below are some resources that the division has gathered to aid in your work to build water infrastructure resilience:
- US Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water and Wastewater Resilience Website - provides many resources to help you assess, plan, train, respond, detect, and recover from water infrastructure emergencies.
- CDPHE - WQCD Water Sector Security Toolbox - built to help water infrastructure professionals understand how to plan to protect their facilities from security threats, and how to respond in the event of a security breach and includes resources for regulatory requirements during security events.
- CDPHE - WQCD Local Assistance Unit Website - Register for training and request one-on-one assistance from our team of coaches dedicated to building drinking water/wastewater resilience in Colorado through our Technical, Managerial, and Financial framework.
- Colorado Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (CoWARN) - A free mutual aid network where utilities provide aid to other utilities. Sign up for membership and your facility can request or provide resources during an emergency.
- US EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT) Risk Assessment Application for Water Utilities - This is a tool that assists water sector utilities in assessing climate-related risks to utility assets and operations. Throughout the five modules, users consider climate impacts and identify adaptation options to increase resilience.
Thank you for all that you do to protect your communities and build resilience for Colorado’s water infrastructure!
➽ Kyra Gregory - CDPHE, WQCD Drinking Water Training Specialist kyragregory@state.co.us
