Alabama Rural Water Association

Essential Personnel Letter for Water and Wastewater

• April 17, 2020 - Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response - Today the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released version 3.0 of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers guidance (pdf) to help state and local jurisdictions and the private sector identify and manage their essential workforce while responding to COVID-19. This guidance is intended to support decision makers in communities and jurisdictions across the country during the COVID-19 emergency and it is non-binding. See CISA News Release (pdf).
• April 2, 2020 - Essential Personnel Letter. Your personnel may need an Essential Personnel Letter to allow them to perform essential duties to maintain drinking water and wastewater systems.
  • EPA Essential Personnel Letter template (MS Word)
  • EPA Essential Personnel Letter template (pdf)
• Essential Critical Workers Dos and Don'ts. Essential Critical Workers Dos and Don'ts (pdf) - Guidelines from the CDC, US Dept of Homeland Security, and CISA-Cyber Infrastructure.

Guidance for Public Meetings

• April 2, 2020 - Gov Ivey's April 2nd Proclamation provides more guidance on several topics including, health care, notaries and witnesses, and including additional guidance on Public Meetings. More in the Legislative Section
  Subject: Public Meetings
• March 18, 2020 - Alabama Update on the Open Meetings Act in the Legislative Section
  Subject: Open Meetings Act and COVID-19

Volunteer Operator Pool

• March 19, 2020 - Volunteer Operator Pool. The current state of response to the COVID-19 virus means that water and wastewater systems must commit themselves as first responders to the protection of the public’s health. We are building a pool of operators who volunteer to assist as needed. Read more and sign up on the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response page. Join us!
• See national news about our Operator Pool in the ARWA in the News section below.

ARWA Annual Technical Training Conference - July 5-8, 2020

• March 18, 2020 - ARWA 42nd Annual Technical Training Conference Rescheduled for July 5-8, 2020
  Subject: ARWA 42nd Annual Conference Dates (pdf) - Visit the Conference Pages.
• March 14, 2020 - Memo Subject: ARWA Conference Updates / COVID-19 (pdf)
• March 13, 2020 - Memo Subject: ARWA Conference Postponement (pdf)

ARWA CEH and Certification Training Moves Online

• April 16, 2020 - Second Online Training - A Success! ARWA held another online training class. We will be able to continue to provide quality training through this crisis. See training pages for additional information.
• March 16, 2020 - Memo Subject: ARWA Meetings and Training Opportunities (pdf)

ARWA in the News

• March 30, 2020 - ARWA in the News - Podcast from Circle of Blue. Stories this week: illegal dumping in Malaysia, the Dakota Access pipeline ruling, and a mega-project in Turkey, plus a story on the coronavirus and small utilities.
• March 26, 2020 - ARWA in the News - Volunteer Network Rescues Small Alabama Water System with Operator under Quarantine, Circle of Blue, March 26, 2020 in Water News, WEF by Brett Walton. Water utilities are concerned that the new coronavirus will lead to staffing shortages.

Additional Resources

• April 17, 2020, Reopen Alabama Responsibly, Phase 1 - Small Business Emergency Task Force, April 2020. This document, Reopen Alabama Responsibly, Phase 1, is the initial submission of the task force to Governor Ivey.
• COVID-19 Symptoms. Use this simple chart, COVID-19 Symptoms (pdf), to help evaluate symptoms.
• Coronavirus Update-Resources for Water and Wastewater Utilities - List of Resources for W/WW utilities