The Department of Homeland Security defines the water sector and the emergency services sector as lifeline sectors. As lifeline sectors, they ensure the resilience, safety and rapid recovery of their communities. The emergency services sector is a network of services, including EMAs, that provide functions such as law enforcement, emergency management, fire and hazardous materials services. The water sector includes drinking water and wastewater utilities that provide safe, potable water for drinking and treatment of water from sewer systems to ensure lakes, rivers and streams are not contaminated.
The water sector, which includes drinking water and wastewater utilities, relies upon emergency services to:
Help protect utilities from incidents that could cause service disruptions
Respond when incidents do occur
Aid in recovery following incidents
Increasing coordination between the water and emergency services sectors is vital to mitigating the impact of future disasters on drinking water and wastewater utilities, EMAs and the communities they serve.