Wastewater Visibility News
National Rural Water Association Releases Policy Paper Centered on the Water Workforce and National Security
March 24, 2026
Wastewater Visibility News
This article is from the National Rural Water Association in partnership with Advocacy Blueprints Founder Nicole Tisdale, covering the release of a new national security and cybersecurity whitepaper for water and wastewater professionals.
Mar 19, 2026
The National Rural Water Association (NRWA), in partnership with Advocacy Blueprints Founder Nicole Tisdale, is excited to release Rural Water’s Ripple Effect: National Security, Cyber Threats, and the Future of Water, a policy paper analyzing how the Water Sector workforce is a critical component of national security. The paper highlights the current threat landscape of the Water Sector, the impacts from those threats, and their public health and civil defense implications. The paper then discusses the workforce crisis and its relation to national security vulnerabilities, current federal policy gaps, and concludes with five realistic policy recommendations.
America’s water and wastewater systems are recognized as a key part of the front lines of national security and are increasingly being targeted by foreign adversaries. Most utilities, especially rural ones, operate with aging technology, minimal cybersecurity capacity, and limited funding, making them attractive targets for exploitation. Statistics highlighted in the paper paint a stark reality: protecting rural water systems must be a national security imperative to protect critically dependent U.S. military operations, technological infrastructure, and public health.
Coupled with these cyber threats, water and wastewater utilities are facing a drastic shift in the water workforce. Fifty-seven percent of operators plan to retire within 10 years, with one-third leaving in the next five. This workforce exodus will create a massive drain of institutional knowledge needed to manage, maintain, and operate the physical and digital infrastructure of America’s approximately 50,000 community water systems, which cannot be quickly or easily replaced.
To combat these impending Water Workforce and National Security threats, NRWA has developed the following clear, targeted policy recommendations built on proven federal models:
1. Annual Water Threat Assessment
● Direct the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to produce an annual water-specific threat assessment and identify vulnerabilities facing rural systems.
2. Cybersecurity Circuit Rider Program
● Authorize $25 million annually for embedded cybersecurity experts capable of local deployment and emergency response.
3. Rural Water Set-Aside in State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program SLCGP
● Establish a dedicated 10 percent annual allocation for rural water systems and eliminate the ‘pay first, reimburse later’ reimbursement model for utilities serving fewer than 10,000 people.
4. Water Industry Workforce Support through Apprenticeship
● Direct the Department of Labor to provide $20 million to establish, expand, and administer registered apprenticeship programs for Water and Wastewater System Operations Specialists.
5. Coordinated Federal Rural Water Security Strategy
● Require USDA, EPA, CISA, DOL, and NSA to coordinate a unified rural water security strategy.
In the current global climate and following the release of President Trump’s Cyber Strategy for America, now is a critical time to focus on our nation’s water and wastewater utilities as part of the front lines of national security.
To read the full policy paper, click here: https://content.nrwa.org/white-papers/whitepaper/15819742/rural-waters-ripple-effect-national-security-cyber-threats-and-the-future-of-water
To learn more about NRWA’s cybersecurity efforts and advocacy, visit: https://nrwa.org/issues/cybersecurity/
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About the National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
The National Rural Water Association (NRWA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to training, supporting, and promoting the water and wastewater professionals who serve small and rural communities across the country. NRWA provides nationwide training and technical assistance through its affiliated State Rural Water Associations that currently have over 31,000 utility system members across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Rural Water training and technical assistance covers every aspect of operating, managing, and financing water and wastewater utilities.
About Nicole Tisdale, Advocacy Blueprints, LLC Founder
Nicole Tisdale is Founder of Advocacy Blueprints LLC, a national security attorney, and a rural Mississippi native who brings a personal stake to the communities at the center of this paper. With over fifteen years across the White House National Security Council, the House Committee on Homeland Security, and the private sector, she has built expertise in cybersecurity, espionage, and the vulnerabilities facing rural and underserved communities. At the White House, she led creation of the $1 billion State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and drove passage of the nation’s most significant cybersecurity laws in a decade. In Congress, she managed 96 hearings and shepherded 354 bills through the House, 80 of which became law. She has represented the United States in 40 international delegations across 28 countries.
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