Cities Competing to Conserve the Most Water

Lake Shasta in Northern California, seen here in 2014.

Lake Shasta in Northern California, seen here in 2014. Shutterstock

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By Kate Elizabeth Queram,
Senior Reporter
 

Connecting state and local government leaders

By Kate Elizabeth Queram

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Since its inception seven years ago, the National Water Pledge Campaign has collected more than 1.6 million commitments to conserve more than 8 billion gallons.

More than 300,000 people across the nation have pledged to conserve water, energy and other resources on behalf of their cities as part of the National Water Pledge Campaign, an annual competition between municipalities.

Participants include hundreds of mayors pledging participation on behalf of their cities. Cities compete in population categories, ranging from 5,000-29,999 (Laguna Beach, California) to 600,000 or more residents (Las Vegas). City standings can be viewed in real time on the pledge website.

Participants in winning cities are eligible to win prizes, ranging from low-flow shower heads to gift cards for home improvement stores. Last year, the challenge awarded more than $50,000 in prizes to nearly 300 residents in cities across the U.S.

The water pledge campaign began seven years ago as a partnership between the Wyland Foundation and corporate partners “in an effort to make actionable items for both residents and mayors to conserve water and have fun doing it,” according to Jonathan Abramson, a spokesman for the competition.

Since its inception, the campaign has collected more than 1.6 million pledges promising to conserve more than 8 billion gallons of water.

Residents from more than 4,800 cities participated last year. The most active cities included Laguna Beach, California; Flagstaff, Arizona; Athens, Georgia; Aurora, Colorado; and Dallas, Texas.

Kate Elizabeth Queram is a Staff Correspondent for Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.

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