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October 30, 2009

This Member Update provides information on several activities related to wastewater utility security and emergency preparedness.  The water sector is currently conducting its second annual round of security measures reporting, and all NACWA utility members are urged to complete their reporting by Friday, October 30.  Vaccinations for the H1N1 influenza virus will be available soon to certain groups, but with vaccinations targeted to high-risk groups first and the virus activity currently increasing, utilities should review their procedures for dealing with high absentee rates.  Please contact Cynthia Finley, Director of Regulatory Affairs, at 202/296-9836 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions on the information contained in this Update.

Water Security Metrics Reporting Now Open – Please Participate!

The water sector is the first critical infrastructure sector to develop and report on measures that help to determine the progress made in the areas of security, preparedness, and resiliency.   The measures used by the water sector were developed by the Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and NACWA participated in the development process.  The first round of annual reporting was conducted in 2008, with over 400 utilities responding.  The water sector would like to increase the participation in this year’s round of reporting to provide a more complete picture of security in the water sector.

The measures consist of a short series of questions about actions and plans made by utilities.  All reporting is voluntary, and responses are completely anonymous (the utility identity information that was requested in 2008 for quality control purposes has been removed for the 2009 reporting).  The reporting tool is available on the WaterISAC public website, and the questions are expected to take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.  A final report of aggregated sector-wide data will be available in January 2010.

NACWA urges all utility members to complete their reporting by the deadline of Friday, October 30, 2009.  Your participation is necessary to ensure that a comprehensive view of the water sector’s progress in the area of security and emergency preparedness is used to guide future policy decisions.

H1N1 Influenza Vaccinations Available Soon

DHS briefed the EPA Water Security Division and water sector associations last week on the current status of the H1N1 influenza (“swine flu”) outbreak and vaccination availability.  Members of NACWA’s Security and Emergency Preparedness Committee also participated in the briefing and subsequent discussion via webcast.  The H1N1 virus activity has been increasing across the U.S. as schools and universities began their fall sessions.  A vaccination for the virus has been developed, and it should be available to prioritized groups within the next few weeks.  DHS expects that 45-49 million doses of the vaccine will be available by mid-October, with 10-20 million additional doses available each week after that.

During the summer, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a priority list for vaccinations based on age groups and risk factors.  The top priority groups are pregnant women, people in regular contact with children younger than six months, health-care and emergency medical services workers, everyone six months to 24 years old, and people aged 25 to 64 with a high risk condition, such as an underlying health issue.  These groups, which total 159 million people in the U.S., had the most severe health consequences from the H1N1 virus during the outbreak that occurred this spring.  The CDC has now recommended that the following groups receive the vaccination first, when the vaccine supplies are initially limited: 

• Pregnant women,
• People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, 
• Health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact,
• Children 6 months through 4 years of age, and
• Children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.

After all the priority groups have received the vaccination, the CDC recommends that the vaccine be offered to healthy adults aged 25 to 64, and then to people 65 and older (adults over 65 years appear to be protected already due to flu strains that circulated several decades ago).  State and local health departments will make the final decisions about how the vaccinations are allocated.

Utilities should encourage personnel who fall into one of the priority groups to be immunized as soon as the vaccine is available.  The peak of H1N1 influenza activity is expected this fall, but seasonal flu will likely peak in January or February.  Vaccinations for seasonal flu are already available, and utilities should encourage all personnel to receive a seasonal flu vaccination.  More information about influenza is available at www.flu.gov and www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu, including resources to help utilities develop or update pandemic preparedness plans.  The DHS publication, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Guide for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources, which includes an annex  for water and wastewater utilities, may also be helpful.

With the double threat of H1N1 and seasonal flu this fall and winter, utilities should prepare for higher than usual absentee rates.  In the September 30 briefing, DHS explained that H1N1 was more likely to cause utility workers to be sick simultaneously, since people under age 65 have no immunity yet to this virus.  With seasonal flu, illnesses in groups of co-workers are more likely to be spread out over time.  DHS has been asked to report to the White House on a weekly basis about the impacts of the H1N1 flu on each critical infrastructure sector, and EPA is currently deciding on how to provide this information to EPA.  NACWA will inform members once the reporting system is in place, and in the meantime, members are asked to notify NACWA if they experience any problems related to increased absenteeism.