Water Sector: Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources

Sector Overview

Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (HSPD-7) designates the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the federal lead for the Water Sector's critical infrastructure protection activities. All activities are carried out in consultation with the Department and the EPA's Water Sector partners.

The Water Sector is vulnerable to a variety of attacks through contamination with deadly agents, physical attacks-such as the release of toxic gaseous chemicals-and cyber attacks. If these attacks were realized, the result could be large numbers of illnesses or casualties and/or a denial of service that would also impact public health and economic vitality. Critical services such as firefighting or healthcare and other dependent and interdependent sectors, such as Energy, Transportation Systems, and Agriculture and Food, would be negatively impacted by a denial of service from the Water Sector.