MnWARN - Utilities Helping Utilities

Our Mission: To promote and support a statewide response to utility emergencies and disasters through mutual assistance for water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities in Minnesota.

Leaders in the water/wastewater community and state agencies have joined together to create the Minnesota Water/Wastewater Utilities Agency Response Network.

MnWARN is a formal emergency response program in Minnesota. MnWARN is a mutual aid agreement to provide a program whereby water, wastewater, and storm water utilities sustaining physical damage from natural or man-made disasters in the state of Minnesota can obtain emergency assistance, in the form of personnel, equipment, and materials and other associated services necessary to protect the health and welfare of the utilities' customers.

How does MnWARN help?

MnWARN assists members utilities with:

• Emergency assessment, emergency response, and recovery.
• Mutual Aid Agreement for sharing emergency resources with members.
• Resources to help recover from a disaster.
• Emergency contact network.
• Voluntary participation.

A Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) is a network of utilities helping utilities respond to and recover from emergencies. Mutual Aid/Assistance is one agency helping another based on a written agreement. The assistance is provided across jurisdictional boundaries in the event of an emergency. Participation is voluntary.

There is no obligation to respond. There is no cost to participate. MnWARN provides a forum for establishing and maintaining emergency contacts. MnWARN program provides a utility with access to specialized, certified, and knowledgeable utility personnel.

A WARN is important because utility resources are specialized; utilities must be self-sufficient; and utilities must fill in the gap before the arrival of government aid.