Virginia WARN is a Mutual Aid Response Network for Virginia Water and Wastewater
Systems.
The mission of the Virginia Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network
(VA WARN) is to provide a method whereby Virginia water and wastewater utilities
that have sustained damages from natural or manmade events could obtain emergency
assistance in the form of personnel, equipment, materials and other associated services
as necessary from other water and wastewater utilities. The objective is to provide
rapid, short term deployment of emergency services to restore the critical operations
of the impacted utility.
Following the impacts of Hurricane Katrina, it became apparent
that even with the extraordinary efforts of utilities, water associations, and state
regulatory agencies, the demand for resources and knowing where those resources
were available overwhelmed the ability to effectively coordinate the initial response.
The Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association (VA AWWA) and the Virginia
Water Environment Association (VWEA) have joined together to be an advocate for
and to support the Virginia Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (VA WARN).