I’m sure you have read about recent cyber attacks on municipal water systems in the US. The Source published an article today stating that an attack also occurred on a system in Oregon but that Bend’s and Redmond’s systems are safe. Last week a reader asked me about cyber attacks on local dams. He was concerned about the gates being opened causing downstream flooding. I asked the Oregon Water Resources Department about the potential for this to happen on local dams upstream from Lake Billy Chinook and was told that flows from these dams are manually controlled and not connected to the internet. The same is true for Bend’s water system.

UPDATE (8/7/26): I received an email from a contact at Portland General Electric after I asked about the potential for cyber attacks on the Pelton Round Butte complex. “PGE is aware of the increased cyber security threats, we have teams that address both cyber and physical security, regular employee trainings, etc. There are also strict FERC and NERC requirements around cyber and physical security that we comply with. Unfortunately, I don’t have much in the way of public info to share on the topic.”