I don't see why you should get that particular message. But GetActionRef returns the reference which is interacting with the button, presumably the player. I don't think you meant to disable the player. I suppose what you meant to do was disable some static object you placed in the render window. You need to give the name of that object. That object needs to be a persistent reference (check the checkbox when editing the object), and give it a name. Typically these names end in "Ref", such as JDWaterRef. Then in your script, use "JDWaterRef.disable".
Once you have that working, there is a more complicated approach you might consider using "linked references". In the editor, set the linked reference of the button, to the water. Then in the script, use "set jdwater to GetLinkedReference" and "jdwater.disable". This allows you to use the same script to have multiple linked sets of buttons and water objects.