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Earthquakes and Water Security: Contingency Planning in California
Author(s) -
Putnam David R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of contingencies and crisis management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.007
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5973
pISSN - 0966-0879
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5973.00129
Subject(s) - contingency plan , redundancy (engineering) , spare part , agency (philosophy) , government (linguistics) , disaster response , standardization , contingency , reliability (semiconductor) , emergency planning , disaster recovery , engineering , risk analysis (engineering) , emergency management , environmental planning , business , computer security , reliability engineering , computer science , operations management , environmental science , political science , philosophy , linguistics , power (physics) , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , law , operating system
California was affected by a number of earthquakes and disasters that affected water supply systems in the 20th century. Lessons learnt from these experiences led to engineering developments and emergency planning, which have improved water system reliability in recent earthquake events. Conscientious engineering has improved system reliability by design. The use of redundancy, spare and substitute structures enables quick repair, if possible, while providing alternative options for system operation. Well‐conceived emergency planning standardization imposed by the government has improved inter‐agency co‐ordination for more effective response. Voluntary planning and response partnerships also improved overall response capabilities of agencies experiencing significant damage to their systems.