California Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (CalWARN)California Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (CaIWARN)
2007 Omnibus Mutual Assistance Agreement
WHEREAS, the California Office of Emergency Services (OES), the Department of Water Resources
(DWR), the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the California Utilities Emergency Association
(CUEA) have expressed a mutual interest in the establishment of a plan to facilitate and encourage water
agency mutual assistance agreements between water agencies; and
WHEREAS, the California Water Agency Response Network (CaIWARN) was originally created to provide
a forum for the development of mutual assistance agreements between water agencies in the OES
Coastal Region of California; and later expanded to all water and wastewater agencies in the State of
California, and
WHEREAS, the CALIFORNIA WATER/WASTEWATER AGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK (CaIWARN)
2007 OMNIBUS MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT is a continuation of the WARN 1996 OMNIBUS
MUTUAL AID and 2001 OMNIBUS MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT and sets forth the mutual covenants and
agreements for water and wastewater agencies to provide mutual assistance to one another in times of
emergency; and
WHEREAS, State OES regulates the SEMS program, and this agreement is consistent with SEMS, and
that it is necessary to have a mutual assistance agreement in place to support requests to FEMA for
costs of using assistance during an emergency, and
WHEREAS, the water or wastewater agency hereto has determined that it would be in its best interests to
enter into an agreement that implements that plan and sets forth procedures and the responsibilities of
the agency whenever emergency personnel, equipment and facility assistance are provided from one
agency to the other; and
WHEREAS, no water or wastewater agency should be in a position of unreasonably using its own
resources, facilities, or services providing such mutual assistance; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of WARN to revise this agreement as necessary and to annually publish a list of
all water and wastewater agencies participating in this agreement, as posted on www.calwarn.orq; and
WHEREAS, such an agreement is in accord with the California Emergency Services Act set forth in Title 2,
Division 1, Chapter 7 (Section 8550 et seq.) of the Government Code and specifically with Articles 14
and 17 (Section 8630 et seq.) of the Act.
Now, THEREFORE, in consideration of the conditions and covenants contained therein, the
City of Poway
(Utility)
agrees to abide by the current CaIWARN Omnibus Mutual Assistance Agreement and the CaIWARN
ACS Chapter Governance Document.
Date:
Name: (printed)
Title:
4/15/2021
Troy DePriest
(signature)
Assistant Director of Public Works for Water Utilities
Please return a signed copy of this page to: CWC-ACS@a,YourACS.orq
California Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (CaIWARN)
2007 Omnibus Mutual Assistance Agreement
WHEREAS, the California Office of Emergency Services (OES), the Department of Water Resources
(DWR), the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the California Utilities Emergency Association
(CUEA) have expressed a mutual interest in the establishment of a plan to facilitate and encourage water
agency mutual assistance agreements between water agencies; and
WHEREAS, the California Water Agency Response Network (CalWARN) was originally created to provide
a forum for the development of mutual assistance agreements between water agencies in the OES
Coastal Region of California; and later expanded to all water and wastewater agencies in the State of
California, and
WHEREAS, the CALIFORNIA WATER/WASTEWATER AGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK (CalWARN)
2007 OMNIBUS MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT is a continuation of the WARN 1996 OMNIBUS
MUTUAL AID and 2001 OMNIBUS MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT and sets forth the mutual covenants and
agreements for water and wastewater agencies to provide mutual assistance to one another in times of
emergency; and
WHEREAS, State OES regulates the SEMS program, and this agreement is consistent with SEMS, and
that it is necessary to have a mutual assistance agreement in place to support requests to FEMA for
costs of using assistance during an emergency, and
WHEREAS, the water or wastewater agency hereto has determined that it would be in its best interests to
enter into an agreement that implements that plan and sets forth procedures and the responsibilities of
the agency whenever emergency personnel, equipment and facility assistance are provided from one
agency to the other; and
WHEREAS, no water or wastewater agency should be in a position of unreasonably using its own
resources, facilities, or services providing such mutual assistance; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of WARN to revise this agreement as necessary and to annually publish a list of
all water and wastewater agencies participating in this agreement, as posted on www.calwarn.orq; and
WHEREAS, such an agreement is in accord with the California Emergency Services Act set forth in Title 2,
Division 1, Chapter 7 (Section 8550 et seq.) of the Government Code and specifically with Articles 14
and 17 (Section 8630 et seq.) of the Act.
Now, THEREFORE, in consideration of the conditions and covenants contained therein, the
(Utility)
agrees to abide by the current CalWARN Omnibus Mutual Assistance Agreement and the CaIWARN
ACS Chapter Governance Document.
Date:
Name: (printed)
Title:
(signature)
Please return a signed copy of this page to: CWC-ACSAYourACS.orq
1 Articles of Agreement
2 California Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network
3 WARN 2007 Omnibus Mutual Assistance Agreement
4
5 This AGREEMENT is made and entered into by those water and wastewater utilities which have
6 adopted and signed this agreement to provide mutual assistance in times of emergency in
7 accordance with the California Emergency Services Act and the California Disaster and Civil
8 Defense Master Mutual Aid Agreement; and to provide reimbursement for equipment, supplies
9 and personnel made available on an emergency basis.
10
11 All of said water and wastewater utilities being herein referred to collectively as "the parties."
12
13 In consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements hereinafter set forth, the parties agree
14 to provide mutual assistance to one another in times of emergency as follows:
15
16
17 ARTICLE I.
18 PURPOSE
19
20 Recognizing that emergencies may require assistance in the form of personnel, equipment, and
21 supplies from outside the area of impact, the signatory utilities hereby establish an Intrastate
22 Program for Mutual Aid and Assistance. Through the Mutual Aid and Assistance Program,
23 Members coordinate response activities and share resources during emergencies. This
24 Agreement sets forth the procedures and standards for the administration of the Intrastate
25 Mutual Aid and Assistance Program and is available to all water and wastewater utilities, public
26 and private, in the State of California.
27
28
29 ARTICLE II.
30 DEFINITIONS
31
32 A. Authorized Official — An employee or officer of a Member who is authorized to: (1) request
33 assistance; (2) offer assistance; (3) refuse to offer assistance or (4) withdraw assistance
34 under this.
35
36 B. Emergency — A natural or human caused event or circumstance causing, or imminently
37 threatening to cause impact to the operations of a member utility's system, loss of life, injury
38 to person or property, human suffering or financial loss, and includes, but is not limited to,
39 fire, flood, severe weather, earthquake, civil disturbance, riot, explosion, drought, volcanic
40 activity, spills or releases of oil or hazardous material, contamination, utility or transportation
41 emergencies, disease, blight, infestation, intentional acts, sabotage, declaration of war, or
42 other conditions which is, or is likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel,
43 equipment, and facilities of a Member and requires mutual assistance.
44
45 C. Member— Any public or private water or wastewater utility that manifests intent to
46 participate in the Mutual Aid and Assistance Program by executing this, the California
47 Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (CaIWARN) Agreement.
48
49 D. Associate Member— Any non utility participant, approved by the State Steering Committee,
50 that provides a support role for the WARN program, for example State Department of Public
CaIWARN Mutual Aid/Asst Agreement 1 Approved and Adopted
September 30, 2007 by Vote of Members
1 Association (CRWA) and California Sanitation Risk Management Authority (CSRMA). The SSC
2 will identify a Chair for the purpose of leading the SSC and act as a point of contact for the
3 WARN SSC. At a minimum, the WARN SSC will meet annually and issue a list of participating
4 utilities. The database will be maintained on the WARN website, managed by a volunteer
5 Member, as appointed by the SSC.
6
7
8 ARTICLE IV.
9 PROCEDURES
10
11 A. In coordination with the Regional Steering Committees, emergency management and public
12 health system of the state, the State Steering Committee shall develop operational and
13 planning procedures for the Mutual Aid and Assistance Program. These procedures shall
14 be consistent with the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and the
15 National Incident Management System (NIMS), reviewed at least annually and updated as
16 needed by the State Steering Committee.
17
18 B. Requests for emergency assistance under this Agreement shall be directed to the
19 appropriate Authorized Official(s) from the list of Members.
20
21 C. Consistent with SEMS, when more than one County is impacted by a disaster, requests for
22 mutual assistance under this Agreement may be channeled through the CUEA Utility
23 Operation Center to ensure maximum effectiveness in allocating resources to the highest
24 priority needs.
25
26
27 ARTICLE V.
28 REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE
29
30 In general, assistance will be in the form of resources, such as equipment, supplies, and
31 personnel. Assistance shall be given only when Responding Member determines that its own
32 needs can be met while rendering assistance. The execution of this Agreement shall not create
33 any duty to respond on the part of any party hereto. A potential Responding Member shall not
34 be held liable for failing to provide assistance. A potential Responding Member has the
35 absolute discretion to decline to provide any requested assistance.
36
37 A. Member Responsibility - Members shall identify an Authorized Official and alternates;
38 provide contact information including 24-hour access; and maintain resource information
39 made available by the utility for mutual aid and assistance response, as allowed by utility
40 policy. Such information shall be updated annually or as changes occur (whichever is
41 sooner), provided to the State Steering Committee, and uploaded into the statewide
42 database.
43
44 B. Member Request - In the event of an Emergency, a Member's Authorized Official may
45 request mutual aid and assistance from a participating Member. Requests for assistance
46 can be made orally or in writing. When made orally, the request for personnel, equipment,
47 and supplies shall also be prepared in writing and submitted to the participating Member as
48 soon as practicable. Requests for assistance shall be directed to the Authorized Official of
49 the participating Member. Specific protocols for requesting aid shall be provided in the
50 procedures developed under Article IV.
51
CaIWARN Mutual Aid/Asst Agreement 3 Approved and Adopted
September 30, 2007 by Vote of Members
1
2 E. Status - Unless otherwise provided by law, the Responding Member's officers and
3 employees retain the same privileges, immunities, rights, duties and benefits as provided in
4 their respective jurisdictions.
5
6 F. Licenses and Permits — To the extent permitted by law, Responding Member personnel
7 who hold licenses, certificates, or permits evidencing professional, mechanical, or other
8 skills shall be allowed to carry out activities and tasks relevant and related to their respective
9 credentials during the specified Period of Assistance.
10
11 G. Right to Withdraw Resources - The Responding Member's Authorized Official retains the
12 right to withdraw some or all of its resources at any time for any reason in the Responding
13 Member's sole and absolute discretion. Notice of intention to withdraw must be
14 communicated to the Requesting Member's Authorized Official as soon as soon as is
15 practicable under the circumstances.
16
17
18 ARTICLE VII.
19 COST REIMBURSEMENT
20
21 Unless otherwise mutually agreed in whole or in part by both parties, the Requesting Member
22 shall reimburse the Responding Member for each of the following categories of costs incurred
23 while providing aid and assistance during the specified Period of Assistance.
24
25 A. Personnel — Responding Member will make such employees as are willing to
26 participate available to Requesting Member at Requesting Member's expense equal to
27 Responding Member's full cost, i.e., equal to the employee's applicable salary or hourly
28 wage plus fringe benefits and overhead, and consistent with Responding Member's
29 collective bargaining agreements or other conditions of employment. All costs incurred
30 for work performed during the specified Period of Assistance will be included. The
31 Requesting Member shall be responsible for all direct and indirect labor costs.
32
33 B. Equipment— Use of equipment, such as construction equipment, vehicles, tools, pumps
34 and generators, shall be at Responding Member's current equipment rate and subject to the
35 following conditions: The Requesting Member shall reimburse the Responding Member for
36 the use of equipment during the specified Period of Assistance, including, but not limited to,
37 reasonable rental rates, all fuel, lubrication, maintenance, transportation, and
38 loading/unloading of loaned equipment. All equipment shall be returned to the Responding
39 Member as soon as is practicable and reasonable under the circumstances.
40 (a) At the option of Responding Member, equipment may be provided with an
41 operator.
42 (b) Equipment shall be returned to Responding Member within 24 hours after receipt
43 of an oral or written request for return.
44 (c) Requesting Member shall, at its own expense, supply all fuel, lubrication and
45 maintenance for furnished equipment.
46 (d) Responding Member's cost related to the transportation, handling and
47 loading/unloading of equipment shall be chargeable to Requesting Member.
48 (e) In the event equipment is damaged while being dispatched to Requesting Member,
49 or while in the custody and use of Requesting Member, Requesting Member shall
50 reimburse Responding Member for the reasonable cost of repairing said damaged
51 equipment. If the equipment cannot be repaired, then Requesting Member shall
CalWARN Mutual Aid/Asst Agreement 5 Approved and Adopted
September 30, 2007 by Vote of Members
1 ARTICLE IX.
2 REQUESTING MEMBER'S DUTY TO INDEMNIFY
3
4 Pursuant to Government Code Section 895.4, and subject to Article X, Requesting Member
5 shall assume the defense of, fully indemnify and hold harmless Responding Member, its
6 Directors, Council Members, Supervisors, officers and employees, from all claims, loss,
7 damage, injury and liability of every kind, nature and description, directly or indirectly arising
8 from the Requesting Member's work hereunder, including, but not limited to, negligent or
9 wrongful use of equipment, supplies or personnel provided to Requesting Member or faulty
10 workmanship or other negligent acts, errors or omissions by Responding Member, or by
11 personnel provided to Requesting Member from the time assistance is requested and
12 rendered until the assistance is returned to Responding Member's control, portal to portal.
13
14
15 ARTICLE X.
16 SIGNATORY INDEMNIFICATION
17
18 In the event of a liability, claim, demand, action or proceeding, of whatever kind or nature
19 arising out of the rendering of assistance through this Agreement, the parties involved in
20 rendering or receiving assistance agree to indemnify and hold harmless all Members whose
21 only involvement is the execution and approval of this Agreement, in the transaction or
22 occurrence which is the subject of such claim, action, demand or other proceeding. Such
23 indemnification shall include indemnity for all claims, demands, liability, damages and costs,
24 including reasonable attorneys' fees and other costs of defense, for injury, property damage
25 and workers compensation.
26
27
28 ARTICLE XI.
29 WORKER'S COMPENSATION CLAIMS
30
31 The Responding Member is responsible for providing worker's compensation benefits and
32 administering worker's compensation for its employees. The Requesting Member is
33 responsible for providing worker's compensation benefits and administering worker's
34 compensation for its employees.
35
36
37 ARTICLE XII.
38 NOTICE
39
40 Each party hereto shall give to the others prompt and timely written notice of any claim
41 made or any suit instituted coming to its knowledge, which in any way, directly or indirectly,
42 contingently or otherwise, affects or might affect them, and each Member shall have the
43 right to participate in the defense of the same, as it considers necessary to protect its own
44 interests.
45
46
CaIWARN Mutual Aid/Asst Agreement 7 Approved and Adopted
September 30, 2007 by Vote of Members
1
2 ARTICLE XVIII.
3 SEVERABILITY
4
5 If any term or provision of this Agreement is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be
6 illegal or in conflict with any law, the validity of the remaining terms and provisions shall not be
7 affected, and the rights and obligations of the parties shall be construed and enforced as if the
8 Agreement did not contain the particular term or provision held to be invalid.
9
10
11 ARTICLE XIX.
12 PRIOR AGREEMENTS
13
14 To the extent that prior agreements among signatories to this Agreement for mutual assistance
15 are inconsistent with this Agreement, such agreements are hereby superseded. This
16 Agreement supersedes the 1996 Omnibus Mutual Aid Agreement, the WARN 1997 Omnibus
17 Mutual Aid Agreement, and the WARN 2001 Omnibus Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement.
18
19
20 ARTICLE XX.
21 PROHIBITION ON THIRD PARTIES AND ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS/DUTIES
22
23 This Agreement is for the sole benefit of the Members and no other person or entity has rights
24 under this Agreement as a third party beneficiary. Assignment of benefits or delegation of
25 duties created by this Agreement to third parties that are not Members is prohibited and without
26 effect.
27
28
29 ARTICLE XXI.
30 TORT CLAIMS
31
32 This Agreement in no way abrogates or waives any immunity or defense available under
33 California law.
34
35
36 ARTICLE XXII.
37 INTRASTATE AND INTERSTATE MUTUAL AID AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
38
39 To the extent practicable, Members retain the right to participate in mutual aid and assistance
40 activities conducted under the State of California Intrastate WARN Mutual Aid and Assistance
41 Program and the Interstate Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) and similar
42 programs.
43
44
45
CaIWARN Mutual Aid/Asst Agreement 9 Approved and Adopted
September 30, 2007 by Vote of Members