skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Framework for Shared Drinking Water Risk Assessment

Journal Article · · International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  2. AEM Corporation, Herndon, VA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Risk assessment plays a vital role in protecting our nation's critical infrastructure. Traditionally, such assessments have been conducted as a singular activity confined to the boarders of a particular asset or utility with little external sharing of information. In contrast other domains, e.g., disaster preparedness, cyber security, food-borne hazards, have demonstrated the benefits of sharing data, experiences and lessons learned in assessing and managing risk. Here we explore the concept of a Shared Risk Framework (SRF) in the context of critical infrastructure assessments. In this exploration, key elements of an SRF are introduced and initial instantiations demonstrated by way of three water utility assessments. Results from these three demonstrations were then combined with results from four other risk assessments developed using a different risk assessment application by a different set of analysts. Through this comparison we were able to explore potential challenges and benefits from implementation of a SRF. Challenges included both the capacity and interest of local utilities to conduct a shared risk assessment; particularly, wide scale adoption of any SRF will require a clear demonstration that such an effort supports the basic mission of the utility, adds benefit to the utility, and protects utility data from unintended access or misuse. In terms of benefits, anonymous sharing of results among utilities could provide the added benefits of recognizing and correcting bias; identifying ‘unknown, unknowns’; assisting self-assessment and benchmarking for the local utility; and providing a basis for treating shared assets and/or threats across multiple utilities.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1485820
Report Number(s):
SAND-2018-3844J; 670158
Journal Information:
International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Vol. 24; ISSN 1874-5482
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 2 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables (11)

Figure 1(p. 16)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 17)figure Figure 2
Figure 3(p. 18)figure Figure 3
Table 1(p. 19)table Table 1
Table 2(p. 20)table Table 2
Table 3(p. 21)table Table 3
Figure 1A(p. 23)figure Figure 1A
Figure 2A(p. 23)figure Figure 2A
Figure 1B(p. 26)figure Figure 1B
Figure 2B(p. 28)figure Figure 2B
Figure 3B(p. 30)figure Figure 3B

Similar Records

Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Risk Assessment
Drinking Water
Information Sharing
Multi-Utility Analysis