Gov. Greg Abbott, left, shakes hands with National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross during Monday’s announcement and roundtable discussion on Project Watershed 250 at UTSA’s San Pedro Building in downtown San Antonio.
The Trump administration launched a new cybersecurity initiative in San Antonio aimed at helping protect the nation’s water systems from hackers.
Alongside Gov. Greg Abbott and cybersecurity executives, National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross announced the six-month pilot program, which will give water utilities free access to resources to help combat attacks.
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Abbott cited the recent wave of cyberattacks on U.S. water systems as evidence of the threat.
“China, Russia, Iran launch daily cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure, including water treatment facilities,” he said during Monday’s launch event held at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s downtown campus. “Last month, over 30 municipal water utilities across 12 states were hit by an Iranian-backed cyberattack.”
The White House said the new program, Project Watershed 250, has been in the works since last year and was not launched in response to the July attacks.
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Cairncross cast it as a break from years of federal inaction.
“For too long, at least on the federal level, the government has admired the problem of cybersecurity in water systems,” he said.
But federal agencies have been working on the issue for years. Trump signed a 2018 law requiring larger water systems to assess cybersecurity risks, and the Biden administration launched a water-sector cyber action plan in 2022 that included pilot projects and technical resources.
The new program brings cybersecurity companies together in a single Texas test bed, with the goal of expanding it nationwide.
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Participating companies include Microsoft, Dragos, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, Forescout and Tenable. They’ll help utilities find weak spots, test defenses, look for suspicious activity and respond to attacks with the help of AI tools and technical support.
“We’ll find what works and look to scale it across the national water and wastewater infrastructure,” he said.
Texas Cyber Command, which is based at UTSA’s downtown San Pedro I campus, will coordinate the effort in the state.
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Retired Navy Vice Adm. Timothy “TJ” White, who leads the command, said the aim is to move utilities from reacting to cyberattacks to finding system weaknesses before hackers do.
“In the past, the posture toward cyber threats has been reactive,” White said. “It has been standard practice to wait for the intrusion, then to respond. That era is over.”
Water systems remain an inviting target, especially smaller utilities with aging equipment and limited cybersecurity staffs.
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San Antonio already has a major federal cybersecurity presence, including the 16th Air Force and NSA Texas. Both have long worked with government, universities and private industry on cyber threats.
Texas lawmakers committed about $135 million to launch Texas Cyber Command through 2027, with the state estimating the agency will cost roughly $345 million over its first five years.
