Assessing the Vulnerabilities of U.S. Drinking Water Systems

Abstract

During the Clinton administration, the importance of our critical infrastructure was highlighted by the National Security Council in Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD 63). PDD 63 was superseded recently when President Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (HSPD-7). HSPD 7, like its predecessor PDD 63, establishes a national policy under which federal departments and agencies are required to identify and prioritize United States critical infrastructure and the key resources needed to protect them from terrorist attacks. PDD 63 and HSPD 7 also encourage Federal departments and agencies to form public and private partnerships to pursue the goal of lowering risks to our national assets due to malevolent events. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is assigned responsibility for the water infrastructure, which includes both drinking water and wastewater systems. Subscribers (mainly water utilities) of the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AwwaRF) were also becoming concerned about security at drinking water utilities and encouraged AwwaRF to assist them in understanding potential malevolent threats. In response to PDD 63, and with input from public water utilities, both EPA and AwwaRF initiated programs to understand and mitigate the security vulnerabilities of drinking water utilities. The events of 9/11 accelerated the development of these programs. This paper describes efforts to assess and mitigate the vulnerabilities of drinking water utilities. (See O’Neill and Hais, this volume, for a discussion of wastewater security issues.) This paper covers several key areas, including threat assessment, water contamination, and response effectiveness.