The White House has teamed up with Texas to launch a pilot program that will connect water and wastewater utilities across the state with cybersecurity resources at no cost.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross announced the Project Watershed 250 initiative on Aug. 31, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
The joint project is led by the White House Office of the National Cyber Director and supported by private-sector partners. The Texas Cyber Command will also support the effort.
It is intended to combine federal and commercial capabilities with state and local expertise, with an emphasis on helping rural utilities that may lack dedicated cybersecurity personnel or resources.
“Project Watershed 250 will connect water utility providers with cyber defense resources at no cost by leveraging the experience of private sector businesses with the expertise of the Texas Cyber Command,” Abbott said in the press release. “Our communities and water systems will be better secured from the onslaught of cyber-attacks.”
Water and wastewater systems remain a high-impact target because cyber incidents can disrupt essential public services, creating risks that extend beyond IT networks. The new pilot program seeks to give participating utilities practical access to defensive support without adding a direct cost burden.
Project Watershed 250 also gives the Office of the National Cyber Director a state-level test bed for coordinating public and private cybersecurity resources around critical infrastructure. The official announcement did not identify participating vendors, establish a public completion date, or specify how many utilities will join.
The effort follows a warning from federal agencies to water utilities about increasing cyber threats to the sector. Their warning followed cyberattacks against more than 30 municipal water systems in Minnesota, as well as several other states.