U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Cambridge Joins National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation

caution sign The information on this page may be outdated as it was published 5 years ago.

Wyland Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation

Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern is joining mayors across the country in asking residents to make long-term commitment to manage water resources more wisely by taking part in the annual Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation.

The annual challenge, April 1-30, is a non-profit national community service campaign to see which communities can generate the highest participation of residents to make a series of informative and easy-to-do online pledges www.mywaterpledge.com to use water more efficiently, reduce pollution, and act responsibly in preserving our watershed and resources.

Since the mid-1800s, the Cambridge Water Department has provided a safe and uninterrupted supply of the highest quality water to Cambridge residents, businesses, and universities. Through prevention and conservation initiatives the City and the public are taking steps to protect the sources of Cambridge’s drinking water. 

“Cambridge has long embraced a leadership role reducing our carbon footprint, conserving our natural resources, and planning for the impacts of climate change,” said Mayor McGovern. “Still, we should always ask how we can do better, and we need to share the urgency of conserving our resources with each new generation.”

Last year, residents from over 4,800 cities representing every state pledged to reduce their annual consumption of freshwater by 2.2 billion gallons, reduce waste sent to landfills by 52 million pounds, and prevent more than 114,000 pounds of hazardous waste from entering our watersheds. The Mayor’s Challenge goes beyond recent drought issues and looks at the ways our water use will affect the future of our communities—encouraging more permeable surfaces, divert more storm water, and reducing polluted runoff.

“It still may be fun to sing it, but we don’t really ‘love that dirty water’ anymore,” McGovern added. “Today, we are looking for ways to activate our water resources, including the Charles River, and clean water starts at the drains in our homes, on our sidewalks, and in our businesses.”

To participate, residents enter online at www.mywaterpledge.com, and then make a series of online pledges to conserve water on behalf of Cambridge. Cities compete against each other for top rankings, and for various prizes which may go to local non-profits.

Questions about the challenge can be directed to Wil Durbin in the Mayor’s Office, wdurbin@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4321.


Page was posted on 4/2/2018 3:24 PM
Page was last modified on 7/24/2023 9:55 PM
Contact Us

How can we help?

Please provide as much detail below as possible so City staff can respond to your inquiry:

As a governmental entity, the Massachusetts Public Records Law applies to records made or received by the City. Any information received through use of this site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper.

Read our complete privacy statement


Service Requests

Enter a service request via SeeClickFix for things like missed trash pickups, potholes, etc., click here