DENVER, March 29, 2005 -- The American Water Works Association's 2005 Water Security Congress, the second such event -- hosted this year April 11-12 in Oklahoma City -- is expected to draw nearly 500 people on the eve of the bombing of the city's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building a decade ago.
The first congress, held in 2003, provided a forum for more than 400 water industry leaders to learn, network, and share ideas. In 2005, utility managers, key security staff, public officials, and consultants will attend the Water Security Congress to take advantage of in-depth conference sessions, exhibits, evening receptions, and an opportunity to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and museum, dedicated to those who lost their lives in the 1995 tragedy.
'National Week of Hope'
Billed as the "National Week of Hope," Oklahoma City sponsored events will begin on Sunday, April 17th and culminate with the fifth annual Run To Remember...The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon on Sunday, April 24th. This is a great opportunity for Water Security Congress attendees to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, prior to the "National Week of Hope".
At 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 11, AWWA will offer its attendees an optional tour. They'll be able to walk to the new Oklahoma City Federal Building for an overview of its security design considerations and then visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
In addition to viewing the National Memorial, attendees are welcome to visit the Memorial Museum. Admission to the museum is $7 per adult, $6 for seniors over 62 and $5 for students (6-17 or college student with current ID).
The Conference
Among those scheduled to speak at the opening general session, are: James Caverly, director of the Infrastructure Coordination Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Benjamin Grumbles, U.S. EPA assistant director for water. It will also feature numerous speakers from utilities around the country sharing their experiences in how to make water and wastewater infrastructure safer from terrorist attack in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. And over 50 manufacturers of security and water monitoring technologies will display their latest innovations in the Congress exhibit hall.
Who should attend the 2005 AWWA Water Security Congress:
-- Utility managers
-- Security staff
-- Public officials
-- Consultants
-- Manufacturers/Distributors
This training will cover such topics as:
-- Risk communication
-- Security enhancements
-- Water quality monitoring
-- Contamination information and tools
-- Financial issues
-- Water quality modeling and decision support
-- The Safety Act
-- Technology acquisition/evaluation
-- Capital improvement planning
-- Surveillance and recovery planning
-- Decontamination
-- Emergency response planning
-- Cyber security
Online Resources
For more information on the conference, see: www.awwa.org/Conferences/congress/docs/highlights.cfm
To register, see: www.awwa.org/conferences/congress/register.cfm
To learn more about additional security resources online from AWWA, see: www.awwa.org/advocacy/learn/security/
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