(TLP:GREEN) Incident Report – Four Assailants Vandalize Spillway Gate, Leading to a Significant Water Release

Summary: Late last month, four assailants gained unauthorized access to a spillway gate. The assailants tampered with the controls, causing water to be discharged, which triggered a rise in downstream water levels and placed downstream areas at risk. This incident underscores the continuing trend of opportunistic and nihilistic threat actors sabotage/tampering with water infrastructure assets.

Analyst Note: On August 24, around 11 p.m. local time, four assailants were caught on surveillance video breaching a fenced area at Reelfoot Lake spillway gate in Lake County, Tennessee. The assailants reportedly cut a hole through the perimeter fence. While inside the facility, the assailants tampered with the spillway gate’s manual access control. Specifically, they manipulated a manual override switch to open one of the spillway gates, causing a significant release of water.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) was alerted to the situation when a spillway gate was found open and discharging water at around 8 a.m. the next morning. The agency immediately contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to confirm that the gate had not been opened for management purposes. Upon confirmation that the gate should not have been open, TWRA staff initiated the manual shutdown procedure. TWRA was able to identify the assailants thanks to public tips. As of this writing, it is unclear if the four identified suspects have been arrested.

As WaterISAC previously reported, over at least the past year, there has been an increase in sabotage/tampering incidents with non-ideological threat actors targeting and vandalizing water infrastructure assets seeking to cause destruction for purely nihilistic purposes. This trend could be tied to an increasing perception among Americans that violence is acceptable for solving social differences, according to various polls.

Original Sources: 

• https://www.tn.gov/twra/news/2025/8/28/individuals-identified-from-reelfoot-spillway-surveillance-cameras.html
• https://newschannel9.com/sports/outdoors/caught-on-camera-vandalism-at-tennessee-spillway-prompts-investigation-by-twra

Additional Reading:

• (TLP:GREEN) Incident Report – Vandalism at Wastewater Lift Stations Leads to Loss of Communication, Heightens Risk of Operational Disruptions
• (TLP:GREEN) Incident Report – Tampering at a Small Drinking Water Utility Causes Brief Water Service Disruptions

Mitigation Recommendations:

• Infrastructure Survey Tool (IST)
• Protective Security Advisor Program
• Security Planning Workbook

Related WaterISAC PIRs: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5