Protecting our Precious Water Supply
September 2005

By: John Schatz
General Manager, Santa Margarita Water District

Attacks on London have reminded all of us that terrorists want to create fear by devastating important infrastructure. U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed thatAmerica’s water supply has become an inviting target for Al Qaeda operatives and other terrorists.

Bin Laden’s followers have tried to acquire information on water supply and wastewater management practices in the United States. So with security issues once again on our mind, many wonder, is our local water supply safe from terrorists?

Simply stated – yes. Here at the Santa Margarita Water District, we are confident that our supply is more secure than ever.

In July, a false rumor that terrorists had contaminated Rome’s water supply spread quickly, inciting panic in the city. The thought of a fanatic infecting a region’s supply with toxic substances is understandably frightening, but most of your fears should be quelled when you understand how unlikely it is that terrorists would succeed in such an attempt in our area.

With so much water moving through California’s water system, it would require tankers full of harmful poisons to effectively contaminate our source – an amount difficult for terrorists to secure and successfully inject into our system. Tight security and constant local testing combine to minimize this risk.

SMWD has always maintained a high level of security, but the attacks of September 11 heightened our awareness of potential dangers and prompted us to scrutinize our precautionary measures with renewed vigor. Our customers use an average of 500 to 700 gallons of water at home in a single day. This places upon district staff an enormous responsibility to protect the 1,330 miles of water and sewer mains, 30 domestic reservoirs and 21 water pump stations within SMWD’s jurisdiction.

To ensure a safe supply, the district conducted a vulnerability assessment in 2002 with funds provided by the Department of Homeland Security. SMWD hired a specialist to fulfill the federal requirement and to recommend ways to improve pre-existing security measures. The assessor’s report found that SMWD’s security strategies and procedures were superior to regulatory requirements and that the procedures we had implemented prior to the assessment should be employed by other local water providers. What an assurance!

Despite an excellent report card, we can never be too careful. The District has made several improvements as a result of the assessment, including the addition of increased lighting at above-ground water reservoirs. In conjunction with many effective, yet less visible improvements, SMWD continuously tests its water for contamination at 75 locations throughout the District.

In addition to enhancing water security, we have also increased emergency water supplies to protect our customers from any unexpected interruption in service. Through acquisitions and purchases, we now have more than 138 million gallons in our emergency supply, enough to last District customers one full week.

The district also has ongoing communications with federal security officials, receiving updates with the latest security information. Most importantly, we rely on the eyes and ears of the community to report suspicious behavior and we immediately investigate such occurrences.

With so much to worry about these days, rest assured that SMWD is doing everything it can to protect our precious water supply.

# # #