Water Environment Federation Receives $1.7 Million from Department of Homeland Security to Support Security and Emergency Response Training Program

Alexandria, Va.– The Water Environment Federation (WEF) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to receive $1.7 million to implement a three-year comprehensive training program addressing interdependencies between the water sector and other critical infrastructures. 

Building on its current water sector security program, the Federation will examine interdependencies within and outside the water sector in order to foster and enable effective partnerships that can advance prevention, protection, response, and recovery from incidents of national significance. The training will focus not just on water and wastewater (water sector) utilities but also on managers from other related critical infrastructures and on local government officials

“WEF has been a leader in providing all size water sector utilities with security and emergency response training and we are particularly pleased to cooperate with DHS on this innovative program," said WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera. "Many of the nation’s critical infrastructures are dependent on the water sector, and we are dependent on them. Addressing this relationship is key to reducing loss of life as well as minimizing the economic, social, and other impacts on the nation should an incident occur.”

Through a series of webcasts and other distant learning vehicles, stakeholder symposiums, and regional training sessions/workshops targeting participants from across the nation, the training program will build partnerships with, and provide information to, water sector utility managers and their counterparts from the transportation, energy, and other key sectors. 

For more details, contact James K. Sullivan at jsullivan@wef.org.

About WEF
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 76 Member Associations in 30 countries.