Council of Government adopts Emergency Response Plan for drinking water

At its session on 8 September 2017, the Council of Governmentapproved the Emergency Response Plan to be implemented in the event of a disruption in the drinking water supply ("drinking water ERP").

The emergency response plan defines the actions that the Government should take in the event of a significant disruption in the drinking water supply in the Grand Duchy.It applies to any event which, by its nature or effects, threatens the vital interests or essential needs of all or part of the country or population, which requires that urgent decisions be made and that the actions of the Government and agencies, departments and bodies connected with the public authorities be coordinated at the national level, and at the international level if necessary.

The aims of the plan are:

• to define the bodies that will manage the crisis;
• to lay down the process for alerting the authorities and providing information to the public;
  
• to define the emergency measures, associated actions and the respective stakeholders and figures in charge.

The plan lays down the measures to be implemented by the stakeholders concerned in the event of a crisis arising as a result of one of the following scenarios:

• a technical problem caused by a technical failure in the major infrastructures for the treatment or distribution of water;
• a weather-related problem (long periods of drought, or extreme weather conditions such as a prolonged period of freezing temperatures);
• a microbiological problem;
• a chemical problem;
• a radioactive problem;
• a cyber-attack;
• a terrorist attack;
• a power cut.