Newport News Waterworks advances physical and digital asset protection with watershed acquisition and $6 million cyber investment

Newport News Waterworks advances physical and digital asset protection with watershed acquisition and $6 million cyber investmentThe city council approved a land purchase to protect water quality at the Lee Hall Reservoir, as the mayor emphasized ongoing efforts to defend the utility's IT infrastructure against national ransomware threats.

The city council approved the $62,400 purchase of a 0.58-acre parcel to protect the Lee Hall Reservoir watershed.

The site, a former construction laydown area, will be cleared of debris and returned to a natural state to preserve water quality and control access to a Waterworks gate.

Mayor Phillip Jones highlighted a recent $6 million allocation to protect the utility's IT infrastructure from cyberattacks and ransomware.

The council also approved $9,847 for sewer easements to replace a deficient 6-inch clay pipe with an 8-inch PVC line on Pine Avenue.

The City of Newport News, Virginia, is taking steps to secure both the physical watershed and the digital infrastructure of Newport News Waterworks, a regional utility serving more than 400,000 people. At an August 11 meeting, the city council approved a resolution to appropriate $66,769 from the Waterworks Enterprise Land Fund to acquire a 0.58-acre parcel located at 14 Yorktown Road. The property, purchased for an agreed-upon price of $62,400, lies within the Lee Hall Reservoir watershed and is contiguous to existing city-owned property controlled by the Waterworks Department. According to city documents, the parcel was previously used as a laydown and storage area by a now-defunct construction company. The city plans to clear the site of debris and return it to a natural state to protect the reservoir's water quality. Because the lot is directly adjacent to a Waterworks entrance gate and fire trail, the acquisition will also allow the utility to better control physical access to protected watershed lands. The physical land acquisition aligns with broader efforts to protect the utility's critical assets. During the meeting, Mayor Phillip Jones underscored the city's proactive stance on utility cybersecurity in response to a rise in national threats against water systems. "Due to some terrorism that's happening across the country, we've seen utilities and waterworks be under attack," the mayor said, noting the threat of bad actors compromising passwords to deploy ransomware. To counter these vulnerabilities, the mayor highlighted that the council recently allocated $6 million to protect the city's IT infrastructure. "We have one of the largest waterworks on the East Coast," he noted. "We will continue to invest in our IT infrastructure to make sure that we are not going to be hit by any cyber attacks." In a separate infrastructure decision during the same meeting, the council also approved an ordinance to acquire 3,958 square feet of permanent sanitary sewer easements along Pine Avenue. The $9,847 acquisition will allow the city to resolve blockages by replacing a deficient 6-inch vitrified clay pipe with an upgraded 8-inch PVC sewer line.