Abstract
Water and wastewater infrastructure, which is considered essential for contemporary human existence, has been subject to attacks and threats since ancient times. Recorded history indicates that the vulnerability of this infrastructure is a result of threats from both natural disasters and human intervention such as terrorist attacks. Subsequent to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, some countries have introduced new legislation and systems to ensure adequate protection to water and wastewater infrastructure. From a business perspective, a unique approach to mitigate levels of threat is to introduce practical strategies to control risk. This is achieved with consideration of the concept of crisis leadership and crisis control. Additionally, these strategies include emergency and business continuity which are required to be effectively managed across water agencies. This methodology is illustrated with regularly practicing plans and procedures in the form of scripted crisis exercises. There are four major types of exercises which display processes, roles, and responsibilities with an accent on planning and documentation. Water and wastewater agencies which adopt these strategies will survive and produce a resilient organization. This chapter provides an overview of a preparedness and recovery framework suitable for water industries worldwide.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Australia Federal Government, Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet (2004) Protecting Australia Against Terrorism. ACT Canberra Barton 2600.
CIA (2009) The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency. http://https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
Denileon PG (2001) The Who, What, Why, and How of Counterterrorism Issues. Journal of the American Water Works Association. 93(5):78–85.
Fisher P (2010) Electricity-Hungry Water Providers Need to Get with the Power. The Age Newspaper, Melbourne, Australia, 3 January 2010. Available online at http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/electricityhungry-water-providers-need-to-get-with-the-power-20110102-19czn.html
Gleick PH (1993) Water and Conflict: Fresh Water Resources and International Security. Journal of International Security. 18(1):79–112.
Gleick PH (2006) Water and Terrorism. Water Policy. 8:481–503.
Hayward K (2002) Water Supply’s Security Challenge. Water 21 June 2002:15–16. IWA Publishing, Elsevier Science
Isenberg D (2002) Securing U.S. Water Supplies. CDI Terrorism Project. http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/water-pr.cfm
Mays LW (2007) Water Resources Sustainability. McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, NY
Naylor L (2002) Crisis Management. ANZSASI Regional Seminar, Auckland, NZ, April 2002. http://asasi.org/papers/2002/Crisis%20Management.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Birkett, D., Truscott, J., Mala-Jetmarova, H., Barton, A. (2011). Vulnerability of Water and Wastewater Infrastructure and Its Protection from Acts of Terrorism: A Business Perspective. In: Clark, R., Hakim, S., Ostfeld, A. (eds) Handbook of Water and Wastewater Systems Protection. Protecting Critical Infrastructure, vol 2. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0189-6_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0189-6_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-0188-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-0189-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)