Improving the Nation's Water Security Opportunities for Research (2007) / Chapter Skim
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2 EPA's Challenges in Water Security Research
2 EPA's Challenges in Water Security Research
Pages 19-31
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From page 19... ...
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES The technical challenges facing the EPA water security research program are defined by the diversity and size of the water and wastewater sectors and the rapid evolution of water security research information. Diversity and Number of Water and Wastewater Systems The task of designing a research program that ultimately improves the security and response capabilities of the nation's water or wastewater sector would be sufficiently challenging if only one or a few such systems needed to be protected.
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From page 20... ...
Thus, crafting a wastewater security research strategy that is suitable for all wastewater treatment plants is difficult. Protecting a very large number of utilities against the consequences of the wide range of possible threats is a daunting, perhaps impossible, task.
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From page 21... ...
However, even if the probability of attack on some water system were relatively high, the probability of attack on any particular one of the 160,000 water systems is still very low. Let us assume, for example, a very high rate of one such intentional attack per year among the largest 10,000 drinking water systems.
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From page 22... ...
8760 hours/year = 10,512,000,000 measurements/year across all 10,000 systems. Given the assumptions in this scenario of a false positive rate of one in 10 million measurements and an attack rate of one per 10,000 drinking water systems, there will be approximately 1,000 false positives and only one is a true positive (one attack)
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From page 23... ...
Research suggestions related to contaminant detection systems are discussed further in Chapter 6. Challenges for Disease Surveillance Systems Disease surveillance systems have been proposed as another method to detect a drinking water contamination event (Berger et al., 2006; Buehler et al., 2003; CDC, 2003a; 2006)
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From page 24... ...
Rapid Evolution of Scientific Information Relevant to Water Security Since September 11, 2001, the federal government has substantially increased funding directed toward homeland security-related research, including research on biothreat agents (Altman et al., 2005)
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From page 25... ...
These challenges include the difficulties of interdisciplinary and interagency coordination, assuring stable leadership, balancing short-term and long-term research initiatives, allowing information sharing in the context of national security, balancing the needs of multiple constituencies, and building sufficient staff expertise. Interdisciplinary and Interagency Coordination Managing an interdisciplinary research program requires integrating a variety of disciplines that normally have not worked together and meeting the needs of each.
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From page 26... ...
, and so far, the changes that have occurred in the EPA's water security research management have maintained good institutional continuity. Nevertheless, these management issues should be recognized as they will likely continue to raise serious challenges for implementing a long-term research agenda.
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From page 27... ...
Information Sharing in the Context of National Security Balancing information security concerns versus operational need-toknow and the benefits of scientific and technical information sharing is among the most significant challenges in water security research management, especially as response time will be critical in minimizing consequences. Open exchange of information is preferred, where feasible, because it allows the most efficient progress to be made in solving difficult problems.
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From page 28... ...
Federal agencies responsible for homeland security favor restrictions on information sharing to minimize potential risks. The water industry and state and local agencies need readily available information and tools that can be implemented practically and routinely, although the particulars can vary widely among utilities.
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From page 29... ...
. An additional communication software platform exists in the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN)
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From page 30... ...
The skills of the ORD and specifically the NHSRC have evolved to complement the regulatory portfolio of the agency as a whole, although many of these skills remain useful for large portions of the water security research portfolio. The agency's regulatory emphasis, however, has shaped the current staff expertise, and several conspicuous gaps now exist within the NHSRC's water security program.
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From page 31... ...
The number and diversity of water and wastewater systems, for example, creates challenges for crafting a research agenda that is responsive to the needs of end users and also creates specific challenges for the development of water security technologies. Challenges for research management include the problems of multiple constituencies and disparate outside forces that constrain and sometimes redirect efforts.
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