By Daniel Fowler, CQ Homeland Security

Washington
,
Jan 26, 2009
 –
Water utilities around the nation have improved security and preparedness and the timeliness of threat information, a new report by the sector shows.

The report is the first to be rolled out from the nation’s 18 infrastructure sectors and gauges progress in security, at the Department of Homeland Security’s request.

The water sector launched an online survey last September to measure its progress under the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, and was the first of the sectors to do so. DHS and the Environmental Protection Agency received copies of the document late last month.

Slightly more than half of responding water and wastewater utilities had written business continuity plans, while 58 percent of water authorities and 66 percent of wastewater utilities said they had crisis communication plans.

“Generally speaking, the results indicate that as a whole, drinking water and wastewater utilities have made significant progress in the areas of preparedness, awareness and resiliency,” said L. Vance Taylor, manager of security policy for the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which created the online survey tool.

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