AARC's interview with Western Municipal Water District and Anita Wilcox was recently published in the autumn 2020 edition of SOURCE magazine, for the California-Nevada section of AWWA. Read the full interview and see our advertisement in the magazine!
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting business closures, hundreds of buildings have gone unused or unoccupied for long periods of time. These buildings include schools, businesses/offices, restaurants, bars, and retail establishments. While there currently is no evidence that the virus can spread through drinking water, the fact that these buildings have been closed and [...]
On September 27, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a disaster declaration for Brazoria County due to the presence of deadly ameba (Naegleria fowleri) found in the Lake Jackson Water Supply. The ameba can cause an infection in humans called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). According to the CDC, this infection (most commonly caused when [...]
In an article published by the American Water Works Association, researchers analyze the aftermath of the Tubbs and Camp wildfires in California, including the "widespread drinking water chemical contamination." The paper examines the factors that contributed to the drinking water contamination due to wildfires and addresses the potential science questions and policy implications. Image [...]
Lessons Learned in Performing Risk and Resilience Assessments and Developing Emergency Response Plans: An Interview with Western Municipal Water District Anita Wilcox Stephen Baruch, Pacia Diaz, Scott Thomas AWIA Requirements for Drinking Water Systems The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Bioterrorism Act) required water utilities to perform [...]
The National Security Agency recently discovered a "critical vulnerability" in Microsoft Corp's Windows operating systems that could leave them at risk for cyber intrusions. The NSA informed Microsoft of the vulnerability and encouraged the company to expedite the development of the patches in order to mitigate the risk of cyber intrusions. The NSA's past policy [...]
The following bulletin is a from the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center: Yesterday, the U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin pertaining to the changing threat landscape following the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. Noting that Iran and several of its affiliates have threatened retaliation against the [...]
Announced Friday, January 3, 2020. "The FBI's Office of Private Sector is aware of the developing situation in Iraq and the region. The 31 December 2019 Iran-backed terrorist attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad Iraq and the subsequent 3 January 2020 US drone strike against Iranian general Qassem Suleimani have heightened security tensions in [...]
In December 2019, the Solano Irrigation District lost a $14 million lawsuit in the electrocution case of two teenage boys, a tragedy that occurred in April 2019. Four teenagers were walking along an irrigation canal when a dog jumped into the canal. Two of them, Jacob Schneider and Jacob Hourmouzus, jumped into the canal to [...]
CBS11 News of Dallas-Fort Worth reported in early December 2019 that thousands of customers' credit card information may have been accessed by an unauthorized party during a data breach to the City's water system. The breach affected customers who paid their water bills online between late August and late October of 2019. The third party [...]
