The CyberLock system from Videx, Corvallis, Oregon, helps secure access to Seattle Public Utilities' 12,500 acre land that supplies water to 1.4 million people in the greater Seattle area. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) uses the CyberLock system of electronic locks and programmable keys to track multiple personnel and control access to physical assets.

After 9/11, the Federal Government required SPU to undertake a utility-wide assessment to identify critical assets. The assessment revealed that the protection in place on the watershed needed some improvement.

SPU Security and Watershed Protection Manager Darian Davis said, "We needed to track and electronically document traffic in and out of our facilities and watershed areas." The drinking water supply from the Cedar River is unfiltered so the watershed is completely closed to the public. No trespass of any kind is allowed. SPU was tasked with meeting Federal Critical Infrastructure Guidelines for municipal water supplies. With over 30 gate entrances on the Cedar River alone, this presented unique challenges.

After extensive research, SPU selected CyberLock to secure all the entrances to the watershed that could not be serviced with automated gates due to no available power and communication lines. In June, 2007, they proceeded to install CyberLock electronic padlocks on these remote watershed gates, storage units, and utility sheds.

Since the initial installation, SPU has expanded the CyberLock system to include the 12,500-acre Tolt River Watershed due to similar challenges. A strong reason for implementing the CyberLock system was to maintain their Limited Alternative Filtration status on the Cedar. "CyberLock helps us comply with Department of Health regulations by maintaining a closed and secure watershed," said Davis.

Davis added, "CyberLock is an important part of SPU's security plan-of-action that enables our watershed to meet Federal guidelines for securing critical infrastructure."

The CyberLock system allows SPU additional control over the access of contractors, employees, and researchers throughout the watershed.

"Being able to program each person's electronic key to open specific locks that allow them to do their job is a real benefit. Also, the audit trail the locks and keys provide is a good investigative tool when there is an incident on watershed property," added Davis.

Videx has been designing and manufacturing CyberLock access control products that are shipped worldwide from its headquarters located in Corvallis, Oregon. For information about CyberLock, visit www.videx.com.