For Immediate Release
May 19, 2003
Contact: Lori Burkhammer
1(703) 684-2400
WEF TO PROVIDE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT RESOURCES AND TRAINING FOCUSED ON NATION'S SMALL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS
(Alexandria, VA) - The Water Environment Federation (WEF) through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be providing a series of train-the-trainer workshops and resource kits designed to assist the nation's small drinking water systems with reducing their vulnerabilities to man-made threats and natural disasters.
Building on the success of the WEF/EPA wastewater program, this new effort will train officials from state, local, and tribal governments, as well as not-for-profit organizations who will, in turn, be tasked with providing free or low cost training to community water systems serving up to 50,000 individuals. In particular, WEF will be coordinating these sessions with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), the professional association serving state drinking water programs.
Five separate two-day workshops will be offered by the Federation beginning with a June 26-27 session in Boston, MA. The workshops are by invitation only and will feature VSAT™water, the Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool developed by the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA), in collaboration with PA Consulting and SCIENTECH, Inc. VSAT™water, along with VSAT™wastewater for wastewater utilities and VSAT™water/wastewater for joint utilities, provides a comprehensive, intuitive system for a utility to analyze their vulnerability to both intentional threats and natural disasters. Trainers will also receive information on other major vulnerability assessment tools currently available to small drinking water systems, and on emergency response planning requirements and resources.
According to WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera, "WEF is pleased to continue our partnership with EPA to provide innovative training programs on water security. In particular, WEF is pleased to provide this training to benefit the nation's small drinking water systems that face similar challenges as the nation's large systems of reducing their vulnerabilities, but often without the same resources to address these challenges."
The five workshop sessions include: June 26-27, Boston, MA; July 17-18, Dallas, TX; September 9-10; Chicago, IL; September 23-24, Jacksonville, FL; and October 11-12, Los Angeles, CA. For more details on the program contact James K. Sullivan at 703/684-2436 or to register call 703-684-2400 ext. 7090 or visit www.wef.org.
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 79 Member Associations in over 30 countries.