A “grenade‑type” improvised explosive device (IED) was recently found at the Converse Reservoir dam in Mobile County, Alabama. That facility supplies the city of Mobile with drinking water.
It has been safely detonated by a multi‑agency bomb team without damage to the dam or drinking water system.
The Mobile Area Water and Sewer System said Tuesday the Coast Regional Maritime Response and Render-Safe Team retrieved and detonated the improvised explosive device that was found underwater at the Converse Reservoir dam.Divers surveying the dam for routine repair and maintenance located the grenade-type IED.The Mobile Area Water and Sewer System alerted the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, which coordinated a multi-agency response for analysis, retrieval and safe demolition.“Our top priority is keeping your drinking water safe,” Mobile Area Water and Sewer System Director Bud McCrory said. “This is an unprecedented threat, and we are fortunate that this device was discovered before it could cause serious damage to our water supply or harm to individuals. We are grateful for the professionalism and competency of our law enforcement partners – as well as the quick thinking of our contractors and divers – in identifying this device and safely destroying it.”
It is difficult to overstate the importance of this infrastructure. Plans are being made to beef up security in the area.
The Converse Reservoir, also known as Big Creek Lake, is a 3,600-acre manmade watershed providing drinking water to 350,000 people in the city of Mobile and surrounding areas, according to the MAWSS website.The agencies involved in Wednesday’s response included the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, FBI Bomb Squad, Mobile Police Department Explosive Ordinance Detail, ALEA Bomb Squad, and the Daphne Search and Rescue Team, MAWSS said.In response to the discovery, MAWSS said it would work with relevant law enforcement to enhance security at the reservoir and dam.Parts of the reservoir are accessible for recreational activities, such as fishing, boat rentals and picnics, its website says.
There are currently no suspects that have been identified.
Monica Allen, the public relations manager for the agency, told 1819News that there are cameras around the dam to monitor activity.She added that she is thankful no one was hurt because ‘our staff is on that dam, if not daily, every other day.”And there are homes in that area, so you just don’t know. We live in a different kind of world now,’ Allen added.
Back in 2003, the U.S. Congressional Research Service noted that water infrastructure, including dams and reservoirs, has been subject to sabotage or attempted sabotage, and that terrorist planning has at times contemplated the use of explosives against such facilities. However, the report noted that complete destruction of even small dams would be rare because of the amount of explosives required.
But a look at more recent incidents shows a shift toward cyber-attacks on water infrastructure, including deliberate interference with water system operations and threats to water quality and reliability. No explosives needed.
For example, in January 2024, hackers accessed control systems at two water facilities, manipulated pumps and alarms, causing tanks to overfill, and demonstrated the vulnerability of computerized water infrastructure.
The hack in the small town of Muleshoe, in north Texas, coincided with at least two other towns in north Texas taking precautionary defensive measures after detecting suspicious cyber activity on their networks, town officials told CNN. The FBI has been investigating the hacking activity, one of the officials said.The attack was a rare example of hackers using access to sensitive industrial equipment to disrupt regular operations at a US water facility, following a separate cyberattack last November on a Pennsylvania water plant that US officials blamed on Iran.
More investigation is clearly needed to determine if the “grenade” was someone’s attempt at easy fishing gone awry or something more sinister, such as an attempted sabotage using old-fashioned methods of destruction.
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