EPA’s Supply Chain Case Studies Offer Best Practices to Enhance Resilience

Supply chain disruptions can emanate from a variety of contingencies and can lead to operational impacts for water and wastewater utilities. To help mitigate the risk of supply chain shocks, EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Cyber Resilience Division (WICRD) has created several resources and products, including case studies that offer best practices to help utilities enhance their resilience.

As WaterISAC has previously reported, supply chain disruptions can emanate from a variety of contingencies. During COVID-19, supply chain disruptions threatened the supply of chemicals necessary to treat drinking water and wastewater. In 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war impacted access to energy by increasing prices, notably in Europe. More recently, the Houthi rebel group’s continuing attacks on maritime shipping could potentially lead to price hikes and supply disruptions. A potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan would certainly disrupt trade between the U.S. and Asia. Lastly, closer to home, water and wastewater utilities faced a threat last year to their supply chain from a fire at a chemical manufacturing facility, as well as threats to transportation networks from striking workers. These disparate events demonstrate the wide spectrum of contingencies that can impact supply chains and, in turn, potentially affect infrastructure operations.

The dynamic all-hazards threat landscape described above highlights the importance of utilities preparing for supply chain disruptions. WICRD’s supply chain case studies and videos can help with that. There are currently six case studies and three videos that share lessons learned and best practices from water and wastewater utility supply chain challenges. For instance, one case study details Des Moines Water Works dealing with a potential carbon dioxide shortage and how they worked with their supplier and the carbon dioxide manufacturer to resolve the issue. Access all the supply chain case studies at EPA.