Oral

Federal agencies (CDC & EPA), State & local environmental and public health agencies and water providers have worked to build systems to identify risk resulting from drinking water and recreational water contamination and to support useful risk communication techniques. The work focuses on improving monitoring, tracking potential risk & illness and developing methods to communicate any risk to community and commercial sectors. For decades, sanitary engineering and water treatment processes have centered on preventative public health. However, community water treatment facilities, medical care and public health entities and their representatives have become disconnected. Public health and medical care professionals may not be trained to recognize illness due to water contamination exposures. Concurrently, heightened concern exists about water contaminated in disaster situations, natural (drought/flooding), environmental accidents (spills) or purposeful contamination (terrorism). Included in this session: 1. The US EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water’s work with State Safe Drinking Water Act primacy agencies to promote interagency coordination and to identify and communicate potential risks. 2. The CDC National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases’ Healthy Water Program efforts to characterize waterborne disease and its sources and to improve national waterborne disease surveillance. 3. The CDC Environmental Health Services Network (EHS-Net) Water Project that supports the work of environmental health specialists in state & local health agencies with a focus on small water systems. 4. The NYC water bureau efforts to work with public health and medical health professionals toward communicating on health issues.

Session Objectives: This session will provide the larger view regarding water quality, health and communication issues from federal agency perspectives and how state & local community agencies put in place practical steps toward integrating water & health issues. It addresses emerging programs and applications at different levels of government and will: *Describe relationships that exist or should exist between water providers and public health agencies, at the federal, state and local levels. *Discuss emerging tracking systems that are being cooperatively developed by Federal agencies (CDC & EPA) and how water providers and public health officials will coordinate with these new tracking systems. *Explain communication strategies regarding water safety and how these strategies can be established at different levels of government.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)