{"id":248534,"date":"2024-04-09T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.republicofgreen.com\/required-water-system-update-resilience-assessments-and-pl\/"},"modified":"2024-04-09T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T14:00:00","slug":"required-water-system-update-resilience-assessments-and-pl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.republicofgreen.com\/required-water-system-update-resilience-assessments-and-pl\/","title":{"rendered":"Required Water System Update: Resilience Assessments and Pl"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\t\t\tIt\u2019s 2024. Do You Know Where Your Risks Are (and What to Do about Them)?
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By The Black & Veatch Insights Group<\/p>\n

A record 28 \u201cbillion-dollar\u201d weather and climate disasters struck the United States in 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), causing an estimated $92.9 billion in damages. The year was not an outlier but part of a rising trend in disruptive natural disasters increasing in intensity, frequency and resulting cost. Such extreme events \u2013 compounded by aging infrastructure, changing demand patterns, supply chain issues and workforce changes \u2013 can be expected to continue, endangering the critical energy, water and communications infrastructure that drives business and underpins our quality of life. It\u2019s putting utilities under increasing pressure to actively manage their risks and increase their resilience.<\/p>\n

Water Sector: Time to Prep for Required Updates<\/strong><\/p>\n

Water utilities have a mechanism to address the pressure. The America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) was passed into law in October 2018 and, through amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, introduced a new requirement for water systems serving more than 3,300 people to conduct a risk and resilience assessment (RRA) and prepare an emergency response plan (ERP) that incorporates the findings of the RRA. Both elements need to be reviewed and updated every five years and certified by the utilities to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).<\/p>\n

With the first round of certifications completed during the 2020-2021 timeframe, water utilities are coming up on the next round. They must re-certify to USEPA that they have conducted, reviewed, or updated their RRAs and ERPs by the following dates.<\/p>\n

Served Population1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/strong>
More than 100,000<\/p>\n