Fall Newsletter
Our fall newsletter is now available, with articles about a cybersecurity tabletop exercise, beavers in source watersheds, hydrant flushing, and more!
Have you been in a tense or threatening situation while working?
“I was out checking a curb stop and the homeowner came out of their house and threatened me because they thought I was shutting their water off due to non-payment.”
“While helping with traffic control on a project, a driver became agitated while stopped and threw litter at me and then would not move their vehicle when directed.”
“Our team had been working all night on an emergency repair, and we began getting on each other’s nerves. We had a disagreement over how to safely proceed with the fix, and it led to a co-worker walking off the job during a critical moment.”
These sorts of tense situations are unfortunately common for water and wastewater workers. Verbal de-escalation training teaches skills that can calm things down before they get worse. We have an upcoming class for you to learn how to diffuse tense situations, both at work and in your personal life.
De-escalating High Intensity Situations
Tuesday, September 23 at Essex Police Department
3 TCH (Water & Wastewater)
Register »
Cavendish’s Cybersecurity Featured on NPR
Earlier this week, NPR ran two stories about cybersecurity at the water and wastewater systems in Cavendish, VT. The interviews featured operator Chris Hughes and Forest Anderson from Vermont Rural Water. Listen to the stories:
How a small Vermont town is protecting its water from hackers (5-minute listen)
Inside one town’s efforts to prevent cyberattacks at water treatment plant (3-minute listen)
Cybersecurity Grant for Municipalities
The State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) provides funding for municipalities to strengthen their digital defenses. There is currently funding and assistance available for Vermont municipalities to do the following:
- Cybersecurity training (CompTIA Security+ certification)
- Implement Multi-Factor Authentication
- Migrate to a .gov domain
This week, Vermont Agency of Digital Services (ADS) in coordination with Cogent Infotech, will be emailing municipalities regarding their interest in these opportunities. Look for an email from VT.SLCGP@cogentinfo.com and respond to express interest.
Find more information at ready.vermont.gov/SLCGP-Grants
New DWGPD Emergency Reporting Tool
The Vermont Drinking Water and Groundwater Protection Division (DWGPD) launched a new online form for water systems to report emergencies, such as:
- Emergency or non-routine operation such as big leaks and line breaks, water main impacts from roads washing out due to flooding, system water outages, loss of pressure events, etc.
- Report that your source(s) are facing declining yield due to drought and indicate how you are responding
The goal of the form is to streamline reporting, help DWGPD prioritize response in wide-spread emergencies, and reduce the need to “cold call” you at inopportune times.
Print this poster to display in work areas for easy access to the form.
Source Water Presentation at Municipal Day
DWGPD’s Source Protection Specialists, Laura Ranker and William Ebby, will present from 1:30-2:30 pm at Municipal Day on “Tools Available to Reduce Uncertainty and Plan for the Protection of Ground and Surface Water.” This workshop will explore a few of the tools available to help with source water protection, including the ANR Natural Resources Atlas mapping tool, DEC’s searchable databases, the Storage Tank Program of the Waste Management and Prevention Division, water conservation measures and leak detection, and keeping PFAS out of your wastewater systems by using alternatives to PFAS products.
Municipal Day is Friday, October 17 at National Life in Montpelier. For more information and to register, visit anr.vermont.gov/special-topics/municipal-day.