NATIONAL DRINKING WATER WEEK (April 9, 2003)

Through most of last year, the message was to conserve.  That was the result of a drought declaration by the Governor.  Although not all utilities were equally affected by the drought, the mandatory water use restrictions imposed by the State of New Jersey were statewide.  The drought is clearly over, so what is this year’s message for National Drinking Water Week?

Sadly, there will not be any open houses at the water department. There won’t be any plant tours and there won’t be any glossy brochures on the details of your water supply facilities.  The reason? Security.  The Southeast Morris County MUA has spent nearly $100,000 since September 11 on security enhancements.  The newly installed automated systems recently earned the SMCMUA an award from the Association of Environmental Authorities at its awards luncheon in Atlantic City.  Is your water supply now safer and more secure than it was?  Absolutely.

The events in Iraq for anyone looking beneath the headlines are making it painfully clear how important our basic infrastructure is.  The first thing that the people of Iraq are asking from the coalition forces is water.  The first shipments of relief supplies contained primarily bottles of water.  The army constructed a water main along the supply line crossing the Iraqi desert before any ground forces began fighting.  Even before the conflict began, the Iraqi water supply infrastructure was inadequate at best.

Compared to most of the world, the water supply infrastructure in the United States is something special and unique.  This is one reason why water systems have been especially aware of the potential for terrorist strikes since the events of September 11. The Bioterrorism Act (PL 107-188, passed last year) requires all drinking water utilities serving more than 3,300 people to perform vulnerability assessments and to update their emergency response plans.

A vulnerability assessment is an established procedure whereby a utility evaluates its entire infrastructure to identify locations, equipment, processes and procedures where an attack of various types would cause the most disruption or damage to the operation of the water system.  Once identified, the assessment outlines measures to be taken to protect these critical assets.  It is a beneficial process because it is specific only to those things that can cause the most damage.  Procedural recommendations from the assessment are incorporated into the emergency response plan.

Given the state of world affairs, this is an efficient and prudent exercise for all water utilities.  Unfortunately, as with many things in Washington, the truly noble, well meaning aspects of the law have gotten seriously undermined.  In this case, the law requires all of the vulnerability assessments to be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.  The EPA can then ensure that the provisions of the law are complied with and that every utility actually performs an assessment.

Think about this.  The most vulnerable aspects of every significant water utility in the country are going to be documented in reports, sent to a single location in Washington with no security to protect them except that they are exempt from federal freedom of information laws (but not necessarily State information laws) an exemption that was bitterly fought for by our American Water Works Association.  Will your water supply then be safer and more secure than it was?  Absolutely not.

Our hope is that when National Drinking Water Week arrives, perhaps next year at this time, the world will be far less threatened by global terrorists.  The EPA will then return our documents and we will open up the treatment plants to students, children and citizens who are curious as to how their water is kept pure, reliable and plentiful.

William Hutchinson, P.E.

Executive Director / Chief Engineer

The Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority

19 Saddle Road

Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927

Phone: 973-326-6866

Fax: 973-326-9521