Fall Update: Free Technical Assistance and Upcoming Webinars for Water Sector Utilities on Natural Hazard Resilience

EPA’s Strengthening Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) Initiative offers free natural hazard risk assessment technical assistance and webinars to support drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities in building resilience to natural hazards and disasters.

SWIFT technical assistance includes:

• Development of or updates to Risk and Resilience Assessments (RRAs) and Emergency Response Plans (ERPs), which certain community water systems are required to conduct under section 1433 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) [1].
• Identification of vulnerable infrastructure assets and estimation of damage likelihoods;
• Natural hazards data to support risk assessments and RRAs;
• Identification of options for infrastructure and operational changes to increase resilience;
• Assessments of risk including impacts to public and environmental health;
• Preliminary business case for investments based on estimated costs and risk reduction; and
• Information on potential sources of funding for investments in resilience building.

If you are a utility interested in learning more about free, direct, technical assistance to complete a Natural Hazard Risk Assessment, click the button below to connect with SWIFT. 

Natural Hazard Technical Assistance for Updating your Emergency Response Plan Wednesday, October 14, 2026| 1:00 – 2:30pm EST 

Join SWIFT for a free webinar on updating your ERP for natural hazards. The webinar will provide an overview of section 1433 of the Safe Drinking Water Act and highlight how to use available data resources, online tools, templates, and free technical assistance to address natural hazard threats in ERPs. EPA is applying for continuing education units (CEUs) for certified drinking water operators.

Water Sector Utility Case Studies for Building Resilience to Natural Hazards Wednesday, December 9, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:00pm EST 

SWIFT technical assistance is tailored to meet the needs of each utility request, from building risk and resilience assessments, to updating emergency response plans, to quantifying the potential reductions in risk that specific resilience projects can deliver. Learn how water sector utilities are benefiting from SWIFT technical assistance. Hear directly from utility representatives across the country that have engaged in the process to build system resilience to various natural hazards. 

Building Winter Weather Resilience for Water Sector Utilities

Wednesday, January 13, 2027  | 1:00 – 2:00pm EST 

Ready for the winter season? SWIFT’s experts can provide customized technical assistance to help your utility build resilience to winter weather hazards through risk-informed project planning and investment. Review this winter’s seasonal outlook, learn about the SWIFT technical assistance experience, and explore tools that can help your utility better understand and assess system impacts and identify resilient solutions.