U.S. EPA Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems

What is the EPA Tabletop Exercise Tool?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water released this Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems: Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Climate Resiliency (TTX Tool) to assist drinking water and wastewater utilities and their partners and stakeholders (e.g., the water sector) in planning and conducting tabletop exercises. The tool incorporates an all-hazards approach to emergency management consistent with the current state of knowledge within the water sector, and includes fully-customizable materials users can modify, allowing them to conduct a tabletop exercise to meet their specific needs.

This new TTX Tool is designed to provide the water sector with the necessary resources to plan, conduct, and evaluate tabletop exercises. Tabletop exercises allow water systems to practice, test, and improve emergency response plans (ERPs) and procedures. The TTX Tool simplifies the process of planning and conducting tabletop exercises, and provides resources that aid in the development of customized scenario-driven, discussion-based tabletop exercises.

The fifteen scenarios in the TTX Tool address an all-hazards approach to emergency preparedness and response as well as introduce users to the potential impacts of climate change on the water sector. Each scenario contains potential impacts and discussion questions specific to both drinking water and wastewater utilities and also encourages coordination with other organizations that may be involved in the response to a water sector incident. All materials are designed to be consistent with the guidance and terminology of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

New training resources assist even the most novice exercise planners and facilitators in designing and executing a successful tabletop exercise. Training resources found on the TTX Tool include presentations that demonstrate how to use the TTX tool as well as presentations on how to plan, customize, conduct, and evaluate an exercise. Additionally, the tool contains informational presentations covering current water sector-related initiatives, such as Water/Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARNs) and the Incident Command System (ICS). Reference documents and links to relevant Web sites are also included. The resources on the tool equip exercise planners with the information they need to customize an exercise to meet their specific objectives.

Read Before Downloading – FAQ

1. How do I download the TTX Tool?

Click on the document called “Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems: Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Climate Resiliency”, located in the U.S. EPA Tabletop Exercise Tool for Water Systems sub-community, then click “Download”.  When the dialog box opens, select the “Save File” option to download the file to your computer. Depending on your Internet connection, it may take a few minutes to download the file.

2. How do I install the TTX Tool?

After the Tool has finished downloading, locate the “TTX Installer.exe” file on your Desktop or in the location where you chose to download the file. Double click the file icon to start the installation process. The tool will open automatically once installation is complete.

NOTE: Even though the Tool runs within your web browser, you do not need to be connected to the Internet to run the TTX Tool.  Some of the additional features may require Internet connectivity.

3. How do I get started using the TTX Tool?

From the TTX Tool home page, click on the “How to Use This Tool” link.  Clicking on this link will bring you to a new page with a number of helpful resources.  Clicking on the “How to Use This Tool presentation” link will open up a PowerPoint presentation that highlights the different functional areas of the TTX Tool and how to use them effectively in order to plan and customize a tabletop exercise.

From the TTX Tool home page, you can also click on the “Training Materials” link.  This page links to a number of PowerPoint presentations that will guide you through planning, customizing, conducting, and evaluating a tabletop exercise using the materials on the TTX Tool.  Clicking on “Additional Exercise Training Links” from the “Training Materials” provides links to a number of FEMA Independent Study courses on conducting exercises.

4. How do I enable the macros within the Situation Manual?

Macros are the icons seen throughout the Situation Manuals.  Clicking on these icons will open up dialogue boxes containing instructions for customizing specific sections.

NOTE: For the macros to function correctly, you may need to save the Situation Manual to your computer.  When you click on a Situation Manual and the Dialog box appears prompting you to “Open” or “Save” the document, select “Save”.

Enable macros using the instructions below:

1. Open the Situation Manual after saving it to your local computer
2. If prompted by the “Security Warning” box, click the “Enable Macros” button.

If the “Security Warning” box does not appear:

1. Click “Help” at the top of the screen, then select “Microsoft Office Word Help”.
2. Type “Enable Macros” into the Search box.
3. Follow the instructions to change the security level to enable macros.
4. Close and reopen the Situation Manual.  At the “Security Warning” box, click “Enable Macros.”

5. I don’t have Microsoft Office or Adobe – can I open and read the files within the TTX Tool?

From the home page of the TTX Tool, click on the “Free Software” link under the “Supplemental Information” heading.  This page has links to pages that will allow you to download Adobe Reader, Word Viewer, and PowerPoint Viewer.  These applications will allow you to open and view files with .pdf, .doc, and .ppt extensions. 

6. Is there a way I can print the materials I would like to review?

Every page within the TTX Tool has a PDF “Printer Friendly Version.”  You can access these individually by clicking the  icon in the upper right hand corner of any page.  Alternatively, you can access a list of all of the Printer Friendly Versions by clicking on the “Printer-Friendly Pages” link under the “Supplemental Information” heading.

7. How can I provide feedback on the TTX Tool?

U.S. EPA welcomes your feedback regarding your experiences with the TTX Tool.  Please send any questions, comments, or feedback to tt*****@*pa.gov.  You may also request physical copies of the TTX Tool through this email address.