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The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) is developing the web-basedWater Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) to provide early warning ofpotential physical, contamination and cyber threats in a secure environment to U.S.water and wastewater utilities. The WaterISAC, however, is being designed to providea much broader set of products and services on water security. For instance, theWaterISAC will provide an array of information and tools to assist utilities in identifyingand assessing threats, taking measures to mitigate those threats and analyzing incidentreports. The WaterISAC will also provide an important link between the watercommunity and federal government agencies that will enable secure sharing ofinformation. Ultimately, with the participation and involvement of water and wastewatersystems across the nation, the WaterISAC will become a clearinghouse of informationthat will encompass collaborative tools for utilities, law enforcement officials andemergency responders to effectively and efficiently share information in a secureenvironment. AMWA has targeted December 2002 as the official roll out of theWaterISAC.Water utilities must protect their critical facilities from terrorist and other threats becausethe provision of drinking water is fundamental to the health and economic prosperity ofcommunities across the nation. Water utilities are essential to maintaining the public'shealth, as well as the public's trust and confidence in a safe and reliable supply ofwater. Because of this responsibility, water utilities are on the front line for defendingcritical water facilities.To protect against possible threats, water utilities will be conducting vulnerabilityassessments of their systems, performing upgrades to enhance security and improvingemergency response planning. Water utilities will use a number of resources to achievethese objectives. For example, water systems are encouraged to develop contacts andrelationships with their local law enforcement and local FBI office. In addition, manycommunities have Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC). The intent of theWaterISAC is to supplement and enhance these efforts for water systems.The purpose of this paper is to inform the U.S. water community of the objectives andscope of the WaterISAC. The success of the WaterISAC is dependent on the activeparticipation by U.S. water and wastewater systems. Includes figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 11/01/2002 Number of Pages: 11File Size: 1 file , 800 KB