Taking A-share water pollution-intensive listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2006 to 2022 as samples, this paper analyzes the impact of the pilot policy of water ecological civilization city construction on corporate green innovation by using the DID model. The results show that after the implementation of the pilot policy of water ecological civilization city construction, the level of green innovation of water pollution-intensive enterprises has been significantly improved to meet the requirements of operation legitimacy and environmental protection of stakeholders. Moreover, for industries with high water consumption, non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises located in cities with high economic development level and enterprises facing low environmental uncertainty, the micro-promotion effect of the pilot policy is more obvious. The mechanism analysis shows that compared with media attention, media pressure can positively regulate the relationship between the pilot construction of water ecological civilization city and corporate green innovation.