Montrose, CO — Some 1,300 Montrose residents made pledges to save over four million gallons of water, resulting in the City of Montrose finishing 4th in the nation during the 9th Annual Wyland National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation.
In addition to reducing overall water waste, Montrose residents pledged to reduce their use of single-use plastic water bottles by more than 10,000 and to take actions that will prevent 232 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds.
Through the 1,300 online pledges, residents committed to cut overall water usage by 4,444,978 gallons per year. By altering daily lifestyle choices, Montrose residents also pledged to put 108,000 fewer pounds of waste into landfills. Potential savings of 30,000 gallons of oil, 15.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 276,000-kilowatt hours of electricity, and $55,000 dollars in consumer cost savings rounded out the final pledge results.
“The City of Montrose did quite well,” Mayor Barbara Bynum said when announcing the news during the City Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday. “Placing in the top five at number four is something we can be really proud of.”
Bynum also announced that Montrose resident Gary Robertson won a local drawing for a portable shower system, manufactured by Geyser Technologies in Montrose.
Robertson was randomly selected from among the 1,300 local pledges.
The Geyser Technologies shower system uses one-tenth of the water and is half the weight of any other portable shower systems on the market. The city purchased the system to coincide with the national challenge.
Montrose placed 4th nationally in the population category of 5,000 to 29,900. The top 10 in this category include:
1. Laguna Beach, CA
2. White Bear Lake, NM
3. West Saint Paul, MN
4. Montrose, CO
5. Agoura Hills, CA
6. Christiansburg, VA
7. Corinth, TX
8. Yorkville, IL
9. Rexburg, ID
10. Hermosa Beach, CA
Overall, 379 cities across the nation competed in this population category. In 2019 the city finished 6th in the same population category.
The City of Montrose has participated each year since 2012.
The presenting partner of the Mayor's Challenge is Toyota. Additional partners include the USEPA, the National League of Cities, The Toro Company, ECOS Earth Friendly Products, Conserve Irrigation, and Petal.