Bureau of Reclamation Regional Critical Infrastructure Crisis Response Exercise Program
The dams, power plants, and canals constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) since 1902 are critical to the infrastructure of the western United States. For example:
- BOR is the largest wholesaler of water in the country:
- provides water to more than 31 million people
- provides one out of five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland that produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts
- BOR is the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States: 58 power plants annually provide more than 40 billion kilowatt hours producing enough electricity to serve 6 million homes
To measure the effectiveness of security at its largest dams, BOR called on the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to develop and implement an exercise program.
The work began with a successful pilot exercise program at Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah in 2004, and was followed in 2005 by a full-scale tactical exercise at the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state. Both these exercises laid the fundamental groundwork for a successful National Critical Infrastructure Exercise Program for Reclamations under its Safety, Security, and Law Enforcement Division.
In February 2008, ORISE staff assisted BOR with a full-scale exercise designed to test the agency’s ability to respond to a terrorist threat at one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks: the Hoover Dam. The exercise followed more than a year of planning, during which time ORISE used meetings, conferences, and preliminary tabletop exercises and vignettes to assess Hoover Dam’s emergency response plans, police force readiness, and command and communication functions.
Utilizing ORISE expertise, BOR was able to exercise their emergency response plans, policies, and procedures as well as build interagency relationships that would facilitate effective cooperation and coordination in the future. As a result of the exercise, participating agencies were able to validate some previously untested capabilities that would be necessary in order to effectively neutralize a terrorist event at the dam.
More than 200 individuals from 24 federal, state, and local agencies participated in the exercise. This exercise also offered the first ever opportunity for area FBI tactical officers and state and local law enforcement to train for a joint response to an emergency at the Hoover Dam.
