Resilience of Water and Wastewater Utilities Through Disaster Response and Recovery

Helping water utilities across the country effectively respond to emergencies that can impact drinking water and wastewater services.

On this page:

• About the Program
• Types of Assistance
• How This Program Helps Build Resilience
• Connections to Other EPA, Federal, or Non-Governmental Efforts

About the Program

Utility resilience is determined by the way the utility recovers long-term from the disaster and what funding can be acquired to prevent damage and disruptions from future disasters. The EPA developed a robust set of tools and resources to help water utilities across the country effectively respond to emergencies that can impact drinking water and wastewater services. From Incident Action Checklists that outline key actions to take during emergencies to mutual aid networks that share critical resources with utilities in need, these tools and programs can make the difference for utility response.

Types of Assistance

The EPA’s Resilience of Water and Wastewater Utilities Through Disaster Response and Recovery Program offers states and utilities a variety of assistance.

Financial Assistance

Fed FUNDs, or Federal Funding for Water and Wastewater Utilities in National Disasters, is an online tool that presents information tailored to water and wastewater utilities on federal disaster and mitigation funding programs from the EPA, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Small Business Administration all in one place. Utilities can answer a few questions and find the right funding. Utilities can also see ways to combine funding from different sources, such as using the revolved portion of the EPA’s State Revolving Fund as the 25% match requirement for FEMA funds or as a bridge loan until FEMA pays for the utility project. Additionally, users can view examples of federally funded water utility mitigation projects and download successful applications.

Technical Assistance

• Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN)—This mutual aid and assistance network provides water and wastewater utilities with the means to quickly obtain help in the form of personnel, equipment, materials, and associated services from other utilities to restore critical operations during any type of emergency, big or small. Water utilities can join this network of “utilities helping utilities” to efficiently share resources during an emergency.
• Incident Action Checklists—These simple “rip and run” checklists highlight key actions to take before, during, and after an incident or natural disaster. There are checklists for many types of hazards, including power outages, cybersecurity, pandemics, droughts, extreme heat and cold, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic activity, and harmful algal blooms.
• Water Utility Response On-the-Go App—This app consolidates critical response information and resources, such as key contacts, response procedures, damage assessments, and real-time weather alerts, into an easy-to-use application that can be readily accessed on any mobile device. This format is ideal for users who may need to access information while on-site or in the field. Search for “EPA Response On The Go” in the App Catalog, App Store, or Google Play.
• Emergency Response Planning—The EPA developed templates and instructions for water utilities to develop an emergency response plan (ERP) in accordance with the 2018 America’s Water Infrastructure Act. An ERP is based on the utility’s risk and resilience assessment and describes strategies, resources, plans, and procedures utilities can use to prepare for and respond to an incident, natural or human-made, that threatens life, property, or the environment. Incidents can range from small main breaks or localized flooding to large scale hurricanes, earthquakes, or system contamination.
• Incident Command System (ICS)—Staff at water and wastewater utilities are considered emergency responders. ICS is a national standard for managing emergencies so utility staff must follow ICS protocols. The EPA has a program to train water and wastewater utilities in ICS principles.
• Water Laboratory Alliance Response Plan (WLA-RP)—The WLA-RP provides water utilities; laboratories; and local, state, and federal agencies the information needed to coordinate a laboratory response during water contamination incidents.

Outreach and Education Assistance

• The EPA conducts numerous workshops and exercises to prepare water and wastewater utilities and state primacy agencies for responding to various disasters and emergencies.
• The EPA also conducts training, exercises, and outreach to promote use of local mutual aid networks, including WARNs. EPA provides training on the use of Incident Action Checklists, Water Utility Response On-the-Go, ICS, and accessing federal funding using Fed FUNDs.

How This Program Helps Build Resilience

This program can help water and wastewater utilities address risk and damage from natural disasters (e.g., floods) and malevolent acts (e.g., cyber-attacks). The program has performed several projects related to response and recovery.

• Mutual Aid Support Through WARN—Both the Texas and Louisiana WARNs were used extensively to bring damaged water systems back online during the 2020 hurricane season, which included Hurricane Hannah, Tropical Storm Cristobal, and Hurricane Delta.
• Technical Assistance in Wildfire Recovery—EPA staff were deployed by FEMA to the City of Paradise, California, in 2019 to assist in the recovery of water and wastewater services after the Camp Fires. Staff evaluated the results of water samples, assisted in recovery funding, and developed fact sheets on drinking water contamination after the fire.

Connections to Other EPA, Federal, or Non-Governmental Efforts

For resilience or mitigation projects, the revolved portion of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund support can be used as non-federal match funding to supplement FEMA’s funding programs.

In 2020, the EPA issued Order 2074, establishing the Agency’s National Approach to Disaster Mitigation and Recovery. The EPA’s Office of Water has assembled a list of various expertise to help other federal agencies (e.g., FEMA) or the states mitigate disasters before they happen or recover after a disaster. These expert areas include the following: resilience to all hazards; federal funding for mitigation or recovery of the water sector; risk and resilience assessments; emergency response plans; water emergency exercises; stormwater management; sustainable water infrastructure; energy efficiency; WaterSense; water reuse; urban flooding; climate-ready water utilities; climate-ready estuaries; coastal remediation/management; restoration of coral reefs, beaches, and coastal wetlands; watershed management; erosion control; forest health; green infrastructure; water health advisories; fish tissue monitoring; water quality/quantity; and environmental justice. A request from FEMA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Interior, EPA’s Regional Offices, and sometimes directly from states, can access this expertise.