In recognition of November being Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, the American Water Works Association and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have collaborated to develop new Water Sector Resource Typing Guidance. 

The new guidance replaces the 2008 AWWA Water/Wastewater Mutual Aid and Resource Typing Manual and is the result of a Memorandum of Agreement between AWWA and FEMA. The new guidance has been developed and prepared for integration into FEMA’s Resource Typing Library Tool.

“Resource management and mutual aid is an essential component of NIMS, as it provides federal, state, and local jurisdictions a standardized means to provide, coordinate and manage resources in incident response operations,” says Kevin Morley, AWWA’s federal relations manager. “It helps a utility determine what they could potentially provide to others through mutual aid; equally as important, it allows a utility to assess internal limitations and therefore understand what they may need to request from others."

In addition, over the next year, community water systems conduct risk and resilience assessments and update emergency response plans in compliance with section 2013 of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, according to Morley.

“The emergency response plan requirements call on utilities to include the identification of actions, procedures and equipment that can be used in response to an incident. Integrating this new resource typing guidance into a utility’s emergency response plan supports the objectives in AWIA and the National Incident Management System.”

Resource typing is also a recommended best practice in ANSI/AWWA G440: Emergency Preparedness Practices and AWWA’s M19: Emergency Planning for Water Utilities. The new guidance and associated standards provide the foundation for water utilities’ risk and resilience programs that support compliance with AWIA. Additional training is available through AWWA’s Utility Risk & Resilience Certificate Program.