(TLP:CLEAR) Research Report – Water Infrastructure Increasingly Viewed as a Military Target in Conflicts Around the World

Summary: A report in Smart Water Magazine highlights the growing perception around the world of water infrastructure as legitimate military targets due to the critical services water and wastewater utilities provide, which underpin the basic functioning of society.

Analyst Note: WaterISAC noted in its 2025 “Threat Analysis Report” that violence against water infrastructure and conflict over access to water has risen dramatically in recent years. The Pacific Institute, a California-based think tank, which tracks violent incidents involving water infrastructure and other water-related violence, documented 420 incidents in 2024 alone, a 20% increase from 2023 and a 78% increase compared to 2022. In 2023, for instance, Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine demonstrated how a single strike against water infrastructure can create severe humanitarian, environmental, economic, and operational consequences extending hundreds of miles beyond the immediate target.

Accordingly, the report argues that in recent years both state and non-state actors have shifted their perception of water infrastructure being viewed primarily as civilian infrastructure to now viewing it as a strategic military asset and an increasingly attractive target during armed conflict. In the U.S.-Iran conflict, for example, both sides have threatened to attack water infrastructure as part of their military operations. And Iran has deliberately targeted water infrastructure in at least Bahrain and Kuwait, including water desalination plants that are critical for supporting the civilian population.

In addition to the increase of water infrastructure targeting during open conventional warfare, water and wastewater utilities are being increasingly targeted by both state and non-state actors via hybrid warfare, which involves malicious activity that remains below the threshold of armed conflict. This is because threat actors understand that disrupting water and wastewater services can achieve military, economic, political, and psychological objectives without directly engaging in open conventional warfare.  The ongoing Russian sabotage campaign across Europe underscores this heightened threat.

The increasing normalization of attacks against critical infrastructure suggests that water and wastewater utilities should start planning to operate under wartime conditions, despite the relative low probability of armed conflict in the U.S. homeland. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian water and wastewater utilities have had to adapt to this reality. For example, in the city of Kherson, which frequently experiences Russian artillery strikes, water supplies have been rationed to four hours per day while repair crews worked under live fire. A World Health Organization report, shared last year, provides practical guidance for delivering safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services during armed conflict.

In short, the report concludes that water security is increasingly synonymous with national security. For water and wastewater utility operators, the most important takeaway is that operational resilience should be built before a crisis occurs. Security investments should be driven by risk assessments rather than compliance alone, understanding that threat actors seek maximum disruption at minimum cost.

Original Sources:

• https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/smart-water-magazine/water-a-military-asset-when-infrastructure-becomes-a-target
• https://pacinst.org/announcement/pacific-institute-analysis-finds-surge-in-reported-water-related-violence/

Additional Reading:

• Water as a Weapon: The World’s Most Crucial Resource
• The Battle to Maintain Ukraine’s Water Supplies

Mitigation Recommendations:

• (TLP:CLEAR) WHO Report – Checklists for Strengthening Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Emergency Preparedness and Response: Focus on Ukraine

Related WaterISAC PIRs: 1 & 2