Drafter
Clerk 01/04/2021
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AN ORDINANCE authorizing the King County executive to execute an emergency mutual aid agreement with the Washington Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. A regional disaster, such as an earthquake, a severe windstorm or wide-spread flooding, would quickly overwhelm local response resources. Assistance would, by necessity, need to come from outside the region and possibly from outside the state.
2. The Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement for Washington State for Intrastate Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN), Attachment A to this ordinance, is a nationwide mutual aid agreement between members of the American Water Works Association that allows signatory agencies to share resources and receive emergency mutual aid assistance from other utilities, both locally and nationally.
3. The county is not currently a member of the Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network. Being a member of the Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network would allow the wastewater treatment division of the department of natural resources and parks to access mutual aid resources from across the country without having to negotiate individual agreements during an emergency.
4. In emergency situations, the Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network system circulates requests for mutual aid nationally.
5. To participate in the national Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network system, individual utilities must be signatories to their state's agreement, referred to as WAWARN in the state of Washington. WAWARN currently has one hundred fifty-one signatories, including forty-two cities and counties and one hundred nine utility agencies.
6. The county's participation in the WAWARN agreement will enable the county to receive timely assistance from other agencies from both within and outside the state of Washington, if and when needed.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. The executive is authorized t...

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