Mutual Aid and Assistance for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities

On this page:

Learn about Water and Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARN)
Join a WARN
Access WARN Resources
Access WARN Training Tools
Questions and Answers

A mutual aid and assistance network provides water and wastewater utilities with the means to quickly obtain help in the form of personnel, equipment, materials and associated services from other utilities to restore critical operations impacted during any type of emergency, big or small.

Becoming a member of a mutual aid and assistance network before an emergency occurs can make all the difference when your community’s water or wastewater system needs help. Use the resources below to ensure you have an effective support system in place.

Learn about WARN

Water and Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARNs) are comprised of "utilities helping utilities" within a state that respond to and recover from emergencies by sharing resources with one another. WARNs are governed by a common mutual aid agreement. The WARN agreement allows utilities to share resources in a more expedited way, compared to other mechanisms that require a formal disaster declaration. The agreement spells out how liability, workers’ compensation, insurance and reimbursement will work. Other benefits include increased emergency preparedness and coordination, and enhanced access to specialized resources. Utility responders, once notified, are typically on the ground within 24 hours.

See the types of responses WARNs can be used for in the video below.

"WARNS in Action" presents the types of events in which WARNs can be utilized and discusses in detail one specific WARN response (runtime 2:47 min).

Join a WARN

WARNs are built on a strong base of utility members. All types of water utilities – drinking water, wastewater, public, private, large and small – can benefit from joining their state WARN.

WARNs exist in 49 of the 50 states, as well as the National Capital Region. Follow the links in the table below for more information on how to join your state’s WARN.

State/Region	Name	Website	State/Region	Name	Website
Alabama*	ALWARN	--	Montana	MTWARN	https://montanawarn.wordpress.com/
Alaska	AKWARN	https://awwma.org/page/AKWARN	National Capital Region	NCRWARN	www.ncrwarn.org
Arizona	AzWARN	www.azwarn.org	Nebraska	NEWARN	www.newarn.org
Arkansas*	ARWARN	--	Nevada	NvWARN	www.nvwarn.org
California	CalWARN	www.calwarn.org	New Hampshire	NHPWMA	http://www.t2.unh.edu/ma/
Colorado	CoWARN	www.cowarn.org	New Jersey*	NJWARN	--
Connecticut	CtWARN	www.ctawwa.org/CtWARN	New Mexico	NM WARN	http://www.nmrwa.org/nmwarn
Delaware	DEWARN	www.drwa.org/dewarn	New York	NYWARN	www.nywarn.org
Florida	FlaWARN	https://flawarn.pwd.aa.ufl.edu/	North Carolina	NCWaterWARN	www.ncwaterwarn.org
Georgia	GAWARN	www.gawarn.org	North Dakota	NDWARN	www.ndwarn.org
Hawaii*	HIWARN	--	Ohio	OHWARN	www.ohwarn.org
Idaho	IdWARN	www.idwarn.org	Oklahoma	SoonerWARN	www.soonerwarn.org
Illinois	ILWARN	www.ilwarn.org	Oregon	ORWARN	www.orwarn.org
Indiana	InWARN	www.inwarn.org	Pennsylvania	PaWARN	www.pawarn.org
Iowa	IOWARN	www.iowarn.org	Rhode Island	RIWARN	www.riwarn.org
Kansas	KSMAP	www.ksmap.org	South Carolina	SCWARN	www.scwarn.org
Kentucky	KYWARN	www.kywarn.org	South Dakota	SDWARN	www.sdwarn.org
Louisiana*	LaWARN	https://lrwa.org/programs/	Tennessee	TNWARN	www.tnwarn.org
Maine	MEWARN	https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/environmental-health/dwp/pws/meWARN.shtml	Texas	TXWARN	www.txwarn.org
Maryland	MDWARN	www.mdwarn.org	Utah	UTWARN	www.utwarn.org
Massachusetts	MaWARN	www.mawarn.org	Vermont	VTWARN	https://dec.vermont.gov/vtwarn
Michigan	MiWARN	--	Virginia	VA WARN	www.vawarn.org
Minnesota	MnWARN	www.mnwarn.org	Washington	WAWARN	www.wawarn.org
Mississippi	--	--	West Virginia	WV WARN	--
Missouri	MoWARN	https://mowarn.org/	Wisconsin	WIWARN	https://www.wiawwa.org/mpage/WIWARN_Homepage
			Wyoming	WYOWARN	www.wyowarn.org

* These WARNs do not have websites. If interested in joining, please contact EPA at WSD-Outreach@epa.gov to obtain the WARN Chair contact information.

Access WARN Resources

Each intrastate WARN enters into a mutual aid and assistance agreement that best meets the member utility needs. These agreements clarify liability, reimbursement, response procedures and joint planning efforts. Standardized Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement (doc) (109 KB) .

Promote WARN

Show the WARN video below to promote WARN at various conferences and meetings.

"EPA WARN" presents an overview of the WARN program to help educate utilities who are interested in becoming members (runtime 5:39 min).

Print out and display the WARN poster at conferences or other events

Explore the Value of a WARN Membership.

See the following documents on the value of WARN for different types of systems:

See successful collaborations between state agencies and WARNs:

States and WARNs working together

Integrate WARN and other Mutual Agreements

Learn about Interstate Mutual Aid and Assistance by reading our factsheet on EMAC: Water Utilities and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact
Learn about participating in multiple agreements to maximize the ability to obtain resources by reading: Integrating WARN and other Mutual Aid Agreements

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Access WARN Training Tools

Learn about how tabletop exercises (TTX) can strengthen WARNs.

WARNs are strengthened by regular training and exercises. Use the materials below to help your WARN develop and execute a TTX.

Do It Yourself:

Download the Tabletop Exercise Tool