New Mexico Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement (NM WARN)
NMRWA, along with representatives from several state agencies, water systems and AWWA have developed a Mutual Aid Agreement for utilities - the NM WARN. WARN stands for Water / Wastewater Agency Response Network, and it is a private, voluntary agreement between systems to help each other out in emergency situations. The NM WARN agreement is modelled after several other state agreements, and is based on experience and lessons learned in widespread disasters such as hurricane Katrina and others. The key to fast response in emergency situations is preparedness, and one of the most difficult things to work out is legal details such as liabilities, responsibilities, reimbursement, etc. These seemingly minor details become large obstacles to effective response when disaster strikes. The NM WARN takes care of these details beforehand, and facilitates federal emergency funding as well.
National WARN Website