A record 28 “billion-dollar” weather and climate disasters struck the U.S. in 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), causing an estimated $92.9 billion in damages. The year was not an outlier but part of a rising trend in disruptive natural disasters increasing in intensity, frequency, and resulting cost. Such extreme events – compounded by aging infrastructure, changing demand patterns, supply chain issues, and workforce changes – can be expected to continue, endangering the critical energy, water, and communications infrastructure that drives business and underpins our quality of life. It’s putting utilities under increasing pressure to actively manage their risks and increase their resilience.
Water utilities have a mechanism to address the pressure. The America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) was passed into law in October 2018 and, through amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, introduced a new requirement for water systems serving more than 3,300 people to conduct a Risk and Resilience Assessment (RRA) and prepare an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) that incorporates the findings of the RRA. Both elements need to be reviewed and updated every five years and certified by the utilities to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
With the first round of certifications completed during the 2020-2021 timeframe, water utilities are coming up on the next round. They must re-certify to USEPA that they have conducted, reviewed, or updated their RRAs and ERPs by the following dates.
Black & Veatch has synthesized the spectrum of available tools and processes and developed a practical, spreadsheet-based tool to assist in the completion of an RRA. Our in-house team of experts has assisted water utilities of all sizes across the U.S. in their initial certifications, providing them with a repeatable and structured process based on the AWWA J100 standard for completing their RRA and ERP development and updates. AWIA tools developed by Black & Veatch use the J100 methodology as a general framework and are further strengthened by VSAT tool features, a suite of cybersecurity assessment tools, lessons learned from numerous AWIA assessments, and the multitude of AWIA guidance documents provided by the USEPA over the initial AWIA certification period.
Implementing a Successful Resilience Program
In the annual surveys that inform Black Veatch’s Strategic Directions Reports for the water sector, resilience has been consistently ranked within the top three challenges utilities are facing. The good news: studies show every $1 spent on risk mitigation reduces future disaster costs by $4-6. A range of solutions are available through Black & Veatch for different scales, complexities, and maturities of organizations, to help utilities define their resilience “stance,” assess their current maturity, and invest in practical, actionable improvement plans to meet their resilience goals cost-effectively.
In 2023, The Water Research Foundation published a first-of-its-kind framework to guide the planning and implementation of resilient water infrastructure. Led by Black & Veatch, the Practical Framework for Water Infrastructure Resilience (WRF-5014) helps utilities of all sizes readily identify strategies, actions, and resources to enhance their infrastructure resilience.
The AWIA requirements address drinking water systems, but the process is readily applicable to other utility services. Consider including wastewater, reuse, stormwater, and power generation to improve overall resilience of your organization and shared capabilities.
