Mission
"The Cape Cod Groundwater Guardian Team's mission is to educate students, teachers, and the general public about Cape Cod's groundwater resources and how to protect them."

Cape Cod is the only Groundwater Guardian community in Massachusetts. The team is part of the national Groundwater Guardian Program which supports, recognizes, and connects communities protecting their groundwater and is sponsored by the Groundwater Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Cape Cod team was first designated in 1995 and has been re-designated every year for the past ten years. Result oriented activites about groundwater are completed each year. Examples of current activities include a water conservation program for seasonal businesses- PROJECT TOUR, a groundwater education program for school age children- WET AND WILD WATER FESTIVALS and a public information program about stormwater- PROJECT STORM.


Team Members
Groundwater Guardian teams are required to include members from a variety of disciplines. The Cape Cod team members bring program strengths and expertise from their work in government, education, water supply, business, agriculture and citizen advocacy. The Cape Cod Groundwater Guardian Team Members include:

• Association to Preserve Cape Cod provides education and suggests ways to preserve groundwater quality, and encourage non-polluting waste disposal methods.
  Contact: Maggie Geist mgeist@apcc.org 508-362-4226
  
  
• Barnstable County Department of Health and the Environment provides laboratory services for water quality analysis and conducts programs to protect groundwater from the threat of leaking underground storage tanks and hazardous materials.
  Contact: Sue Rask srask@cape.com 508-375-6620
  
  
• Barnstable County Water Utilities Association represents the 22 public water suppliers on Cape Cod and the Islands who are committed to delivering the highest quality water to their customers. The Association is actively involved in promoting public education water conservation, and land acquisition for water supply protection.
  Contact: Craig Wiegand superintendent@town.harwich.ma.us
  508-432-0304
  
  
• Cape Cod Cooperative Extension educates homeowners and businesses about proper use, storage and disposal of hazardous materials, offers training to K-8th grade teachers, and provides agricultural education aimed at water conservation and reducing pesticide use.
  Contact: Marilyn Lopes mlopes@umext.umass.edu 508-375-6699
  
  
• Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association depends on high quality surface water for cranberry production. They developed and help to implement best management practices for cranberry growers on the Cape and southeastern Massachusetts.
  Contact: Eric Langone cccga@cranberries.org 508-759-1041
  
  
• The Cape Cod Commission is the regional regulatory land use agency for Cape Cod. They assist local and regional government with a variety of water reource issues and have developed public educaiton posters and brochures to increase awareness of the need for groundwater protection.
  Contact: Tom Cambareri tcambareri@capecodcommission.org
  508-362-3828
  
  
• The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
  Contact: Rhondda Tewes rj2s1@msn.com 508-385-1633
  
  
• Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve works with communities to provide and promote improved understanding and stewardship of coastal resources through integrated research and education programs. In addition to ongoing research and monitoring, the Reserve provides adult education courses on groundwater, Cape-friendly landscaping and other topics, teacher training on groundwater and estuarine issues and provides technical information to coastal decisionmakers through the Coastal Training Program.
  Contact: Joan Muller joan.muller@state.ma.us 508-457-0495