The Road to Resiliency for South Carolina Water Utilities Paved by Planning, Persistence, and Careful Navigation of Realities and Hypotheticals

Abstract

Planning for a resilient future from known and emerging threats is a topic of interest among many organizations, especially in the utility sector. South Carolina communities depend on reliable and safe sources of drinking water and generally do not anticipate interruptions or issues with their water providers. With the rate at which the state is growing, the dependency will only increase. SynTerra worked with five utilities in South Carolina to assess their risk and resilience and develop or update emergency response plans. This paper reports on key takeaways from this experience in an effort to provide guidance on lessons learned to work toward a resilient future. The overall purpose of this paper is an effort to provide a firsthand account of how assessments and plans can be used as a guide for continuous improvement toward resiliency, with an ultimate goal of protecting human health.