MWD to Boost Security for Its Water Systems

The day after the FBI renewed its warning that municipal water systems are potential terrorist targets, the governing board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted Tuesday to spend an additional $5.5 million to prevent sabotage by terrorists armed with poison.

The money will be used to tighten security at treatment plants and reservoirs throughout the district, which supplies water to 17 million people in six counties.

“If we can’t deter them, at least we want to detect them so we can get law enforcement out there,” said Jill Wicke, the district’s manager of water system operations.

Two-thirds of the money will go for increased barriers, alarms and video monitoring. The rest will go for such measures as improvements to the automated testing system, so that officials will know immediately if poison has been dumped into the water system.

The plan has been in the works for weeks, following an analysis of the district’s security system by Control Risks Group, an international security firm based in London. Coincidentally, the FBI on Monday renewed its warning to the MWD and other water districts in the nation that water treatment and conveyance systems are inviting targets for terrorists.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials at many water agencies increased security. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power doubled the number of guards at its plants.

The California Highway Patrol deployed aircraft to patrol the state’s two major pipelines, the California Aqueduct that brings water from Northern California, and the MWD’s Colorado Aqueduct from the Colorado River.

Legislation is pending in Sacramento and Washington to reimburse local agencies for security measures.

“While we hope for eventual reimbursement,” MWD Chief Executive Ronald Gastelum said of the $5.5 million, “we will spend this money with no regrets.”

Water quality specialists say that it would take an enormous amount of poison to affect a water system.

Still, officials are concerned that even a small amount of contaminant could give a victory for terrorists by undermining public confidence.

“We have remained on heightened alert since Sept. 11,” Wicke said. “We don’t ever anticipate going back to the way we were.”