Articles
Explore our in-depth articles on a range of risk management, emergency response, and resilience topics. For utilities and organizations, you’ll find advice and practical tips on protecting your mission from incidents that threaten to disrupt it. Meanwhile, there are guides for professionals on how to complete your own risk assessments, response plans, and system improvements.
Kate Lancraft, P.E., C.S.P., founder of Gradient Planning LLC, previously published under the name Kate Novick.
Near Misses- Learning to Protect Ourselves and Our Utilities Better
NEWEA Newsletter, January 2019: This article explains how water and wastewater utilities can learn from near misses—events that narrowly avoid serious consequences—to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen emergency preparedness, and prevent future service, safety, and operational losses.
The New Emergency Preparedness for Water and Wastewater Utilities
NEWEA Journal, Fall 2018: This article explains why water and wastewater utilities should move beyond compliance-focused emergency response plans to integrated preparedness programs built on risk assessment, leadership commitment, staff training, exercises, and continuous improvement.
The Emergency Response Plan - Alone It's Not Enough
NEWEA Newsletter, May 2018: This article posits that an emergency response plan should be more than a compliance document—it should anchor an active preparedness program that uses risk assessment, leadership, training, exercises, mitigation, and coordination to reduce disruptions and strengthen utility resilience.
Things We Think Can’t Happen Do- Ready for Anything
NEWEA Newsletter, March 2018: This article urges water and wastewater utilities to challenge assumptions about what emergencies could occur by identifying evolving risks, strengthening a culture of preparedness, mitigating vulnerabilities, and practicing response plans before disaster strikes.
Can Business Continuity Planning Strengthen Utilities' Preparedness and Resiliency?
AWWA Opflow, September 2015: Risks to water utilities from natural disasters and other events are continually changing, which is why utilities need to prioritize risk reduction if they hope to meet their customers' needs. Business continuity planning (BCP) is one critical way to manage and reduce risk occurrence.
Introducing a New Resource for Water and Wastewater System Business Continuity Planning
AWWA Journal, Fall 2012: Business continuity planning (BCP) is your investment in a more positive future - for your utility, for the community it serves, for your employees, and for your customers. A new BCP resource for the water sector has been developed by the Water Research Foundation in collaboration with its partners the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and AWWA. This resource, called the Business Case Analysis Tool, includes a guidance document, a template, and online tools, which will enable all water and wastewater utilities, large and small, to develop their own BCPs and reap the associated benefits.
«Find Business Continuity Guidance Document, Template, and Online Tools here»