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Committee advances water, MWRA and $151M public investment plan; members press on PFAS treatment, lead‑line replacement and park projects
Summary
The Finance Committee forwarded the Water Department ($13.6M), MWRA assessment and a $151 million public investments plan, with detailed questions on PFAS treatment, lead service replacements, drought planning, combined sewer overflow (CSO) strategy and large park projects including Ahearn and Danahee.
The Finance Committee voted to forward the Cambridge Water Department’s FY26 request and related appropriations, and it advanced a bundled public investments program that totals roughly $151 million across multiple categories — infrastructure, parks, streets and school repairs — after detailed hearings on water quality, CSO planning and park projects.
Water Department managing director Mark Gallagher described source, treatment and distribution responsibilities: Fresh Pond Reservation, three reservoirs, the Walter J. Sullivan treatment plant and 200 miles of transmission and distribution mains with roughly 16,000 service connections. Gallagher explained the city’s approach to PFAS and that the utility uses granular activated carbon (GAC) filters; the department rebid the contract recently and reported the GAC contract came in slightly lower than prior costs (from about $1.5 million down to about $1.2 million annually) and that…
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