BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Government Code § 84308 Applies: Yes ☐ No ☒
(If “YES” Complete Attachment A - Gov. Code § 84308)
SUBJECT: Title
Adopt Recommended Positions on Federal Legislation: H.R. 2594 (Crawford) - To Establish a Water Risk and Resilience Organization to Develop Risk and Resilience Requirements for the Water Sector; H.R. 2344 (Schakowsky) / S. 1118 (Markey) - Water Intelligence, Security, and Cyber (Water ISAC) Threat Protection Act; H.R. 2766 (Fallon) - Special District Fairness and Accessibility Act; H.R. 2774 (Harder) - Safeguarding Our Levees Act; And Other Legislation That May Require Consideration by the Board.
End
RECOMMENDATION: Recommendation
A. Adopt a Position of “Support” on H.R. 2594 (Crawford) - To establish a Water Risk and Resilience Organization to develop risk and resilience requirements for the water sector.
B. Adopt a Position of “Support” on H.R. 2344 (Schakowsky) / S. 1118 (Markey) - Water Intelligence, Security, and Cyber (Water ISAC) Threat Protection Act.
C. Adopt a Position of “Support” on H.R. 2766 (Fallon) - Special District Fairness and Accessibility Act.
D. Adopt a Position of “Support” on H.R. 2774 (Harder) - Safeguarding Our Levees Act.
Body
SUMMARY:
A. H.R. 2594 (Crawford) - To establish a Water Risk and Resilience Organization to develop risk and resilience requirements for the water sector.
Recommendation: Support
Priority: 3
This bill would establish a new federal governing body, the Water Risk and Resilience Organization (WRRO), to develop and enforce cybersecurity requirements for drinking and wastewater systems nationwide. The bill would also require the WRRO to propose an implementation plan to accompany each cybersecurity measure, including a reasonable schedule by which covered water systems must achieve compliance with each measure.
The WRRO would be comprised of professionals in the water sector and cybersecurity experts who are independent of covered water systems, and who would work in partnership with the EPA to ensure that cybersecurity measures are both practical and beneficial in protecting the nation’s water infrastructure from cybersecurity threats. The WRRO would be modeled after the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, an independent regulatory authority comprised of subject matter experts that collaborates with the federal government to establish energy sector best practices for reducing risks to the reliability and security of the electric grid.
The Board voted to support an identical version of this bill during the 118th Congress (2024).
Status:
H.R. 2594 was introduced in the House on April 2, 2025, and it was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Importance to Valley Water:
Cybersecurity protections are vital at a time when cyber threats are constant, and technology is evolving quickly. Earlier this year, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that hackers have been targeting American infrastructure such as water treatment plants, electrical grids, and pipelines, and these attacks have the potential to inflict significant public harm. In fall 2023, a small Pennsylvania water utility, along with several others across multiple states, was breached by politically motivated hackers. In February 2021, hackers penetrated a Florida water treatment facility and tried to increase the amount of chemicals in the water to unsafe levels. Fortunately, in each of these cases, operators were able to thwart the attacks before there were any real threats to public health or safety.
Valley Water manages an integrated water resources system that includes providing safe, clean water to the nearly two million residents of Santa Clara County. As we continue to see cybersecurity threats and breaches increase nationwide, establishing a strong and effective regulatory framework is critical for public health and safety. This bill is supported by many water sector agencies and associations, including the American Water Works Association, of which Valley Water is a member.
Pros:
• The bill would help protect public water systems across the country from cyber-attacks, which often cost millions of dollars to address and can pose significant public health and safety risks.
• The proposed WRRO would leverage knowledge of the cyber and water sectors to promote best practices in cybersecurity.
• The WRRO would be modeled on a similar industry-led governing body that has been successful in the electric sector.
Cons:
• A new governing body may impose additional requirements on Valley Water regarding the implementation of cybersecurity risk and resilience requirements without providing the funding necessary to implement those requirements.
B. H.R. 2344 (Schakowsky) / S. 1118 (Markey) - Water Intelligence, Security, and Cyber (Water ISAC) Threat Protection Act
Recommendation: Support
Priority: 3
This bill would increase threat preparedness and resilience at drinking water and wastewater systems by creating a new funding program to help smaller utilities become members of the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC). WaterISAC is a non-profit center for information on security threats to the drinking water and wastewater sector. The center is critical for information sharing between the sector, government agencies, law enforcement, and others to increase threat preparedness. This bill would authorize $10 million for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027 for the EPA to cover the expenses for smaller utilities to join WaterISAC, thereby increasing participation in this important clearinghouse of threat information.
The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, of which Valley Water is a member, worked with the bill authors to develop the bill.
Status:
H.R. 2344 was introduced in the House on April 2, 2025, and it was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce. S. 1118 was introduced in the Senate on April 2, 2025, and it was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Importance to Valley Water:
Cybersecurity is of critical concern for Valley Water, as it is for all utilities nationwide. Recent attacks on drinking and wastewater systems have illustrated the vulnerabilities in the water sector, exposing serious threats to public health and safety. While Valley Water is a large utility with strong cybersecurity protections in place, smaller utilities do not always have the means to implement those protections and share threat information with other members of the industry. Passage of this legislation would help enable more water utilities, particularly smaller systems, to participate in the sharing of cybersecurity information with others in the sector through WaterISAC. More participants sharing this information is beneficial to all.
Pros:
• The bill would help encourage participation in WaterISAC by more drinking water and wastewater utilities, particularly smaller agencies, thereby increasing the overall sharing of critical security information and resulting in greater preparedness throughout the sector.
• The bill is supported by several national associations of which Valley Water is a member, including the American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, and the Association of California Water Agencies.
Cons:
• None identified.
C. 2766 (Fallon) - Special District Fairness and Accountability Act
Recommendation: Support
Priority: 2
This bipartisan bill would codify in federal law a first-ever, formal definition of “special district,” as well as require the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to federal agencies requiring special districts to be recognized as local governments for the purpose of federal financial assistance determinations.
Under the bill, a special district would be defined as “a political subdivision of a State, with specified boundaries and significant budgetary autonomy or control, created by or pursuant to the laws of the State, for the purpose of performing limited and specific governmental or proprietary functions that distinguish it as a significantly separate entity from the administrative governance structure of any other form of local government unit within a State.”
Special districts are local governments created by the people of a community to deliver specialized services essential to their health, safety, economy, and well-being. In the State of California, there are over 2,000 special districts providing a broad range of essential services and infrastructure.
Despite the significance of special districts throughout the United States, federal law lacks a consistent definition of these special purpose units of local government. As a result, some communities served by special districts face challenges in accessing federal funding opportunities as their local service providers are commonly omitted from the definition of eligible units of local government in legislative proposals that authorize federal programs and funding. Moreover, special districts lack official population figures and are therefore not recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as “geographic units of government.” As a result, special districts are unable to gain access to certain formula-driven grants and resources. This bill would remedy that issue.
Status:
The bill was introduced in the House on April 9, 2025, and it was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Importance to Valley Water:
Special districts often are at a disadvantage to states and municipalities when trying to access federal funding, and that is partly due to the lack of understanding of what special districts are and the services they provide. For example, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act from 2020 made significant federal assistance available to states and certain local governments, but special districts were excluded. In other instances, many federal funds are available for states or municipalities that provide essential services, yet special districts that may also provide those services are excluded.
For example, Valley Water now has authority (under AB 1469) to work jointly with cities or the County of Santa Clara to provide supportive housing or other facilities to assist unsheltered people living in or along our waterways. This bill will help Valley Water comply with federal case law that requires a legitimate offer of shelter before relocating an unsheltered person from public land. Because of our special district status, however, we are unable to access most federal funding related to housing and homelessness. This bill would remove any question as to whether a special district is a political subdivision of a state or provides specific governmental functions, and it would direct agencies to recognize special districts as local governments for the purpose of receiving certain federal funds. This could help ensure that Valley Water has increased access to future federal funding.
The Board voted to support an identical version of this bill during the 118th Congress (2024).
Pros:
• The bill would define “special district” in federal law, eliminating any confusion that special districts are local governments that provide essential services.
• The bill would direct federal agencies to recognize special districts as local governments for the purpose of ensuring that districts are eligible to receive appropriate forms of federal assistance, including funding and resources through key grant programs.
• The bill has bipartisan sponsorship and co-sponsorship, giving it greater chance of passage than if it were only sponsored by members of one party.
Cons:
• None identified at this time.
D. 2774 (Harder) - Safeguarding Our Levees Act
Recommendation: Support
Priority: 2
This bill would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to perform levee repair work that a local sponsoring agency requests within 180 days of receiving that request. The bill would also specify that the non-federal sponsor is required only to pay 25 percent of the difference between the cost of repair or restoration of the levee to the original design level or original capacity and the cost of achieving the higher level of protection or capacity sought by the non-federal sponsor. Current law states that the non-federal sponsor agrees to pay the full difference between those two design levels.
Status:
The bill was introduced in the House on April 9, 2025, and it was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Importance to Valley Water:
As our region faces increasingly extreme weather each year, it is more important than ever that our levees in flood-prone areas are flood ready. In cases where there are needed repairs to our levees, doing that work quickly and as cost-effectively as possible will be critical. This is also important for communities outside of Santa Clara County, particularly disadvantaged communities in neighboring counties that are at high risk of flooding (e.g., Pajaro River). The Corps’ Levee Rehabilitation Program can provide important support for eligible repairs and restoration but only if those projects can be initiated quickly and at low cost to the non-federal sponsors.
The Board voted to support an identical version of this bill during the 118th Congress (2023).
Pros:
• This would ensure a quicker response from the Corps for initiating a levee repair or restoration project, which can provide critical flood risk management for a community. This could benefit eligible Valley Water levees, as well as levees in neighboring counties that need this assistance.
• The cost limitation for non-federal sponsors would protect agencies and taxpayers from higher project costs. This particularly benefits economically disadvantaged communities.
Cons:
• None identified at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY IMPACT:
There are no direct Environmental Justice impacts associated with this item, as the Board’s position does not enact the legislation discussed above. However, if these bills were to be enacted, it would further environmental justice goals nationwide and could benefit overburdened and disadvantaged communities in Santa Clara County.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have the potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER: Manager
Marta Lugo, 408-630-2237