The Baltimore Sun has reported that Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, and Howard Counties have agreed to a regional cooperative initiative, called the Maryland Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (MD WARN) .  The agreement addresses logistical and legal concerns (such as liability) when one jurisdiction comes to the aid of another during a water emergency.  An excerpt from the Sun article:

When millions of gallons of water erupted in mid-September from a ruptured 72-inch water main flooding dozens of Dundalk homes, Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith got help quickly from state and local officials all over Central Maryland.

“You need everybody in these situations,” he said Tuesday, standing between large utility vehicles in a Howard County public works yard with county executives Ken Ulman, Anne Arundel’s John R. Leopold, and Harford’s David Craig.

With a written agreement among the four county executives who represent about a quarter of Maryland’s population, help will be automatic and fast when water or wastewater pipes fail. Best of all, the agreement costs the participants nothing.