Why PepsiCo aims to repair watersheds in Latin American cities

Rain falls steadily for five months a year in Guatemala, filling lakes and greening lush tropical forests. Yet a shortage of water is so severe that Guatemalans frequently take to the streets to protest about it.

In Monterrey, Mexico, flooding has become expected in the rainy season and drought in the dry season. But it wasn't so severe before forestland in the surrounding watershed was cut back for development and agriculture.

Watersheds act as sponges for rain, holding it for when needed in dry seasons, while a watershed’s trees absorb carbon from the air and provide habitat for animals. They clean water and air, as part of the natural capital the earth provides.

But they are being eroded, particularly inLatin America where the edges of tropical rain forests— the lungs of the world — are giving way to clear cutting for growing crops and building. Water shortages and stressesare common in Guatemala City, Monterrey, Mexico City and elsewhere,一个大问题对于那里的人和公司。

But it is the year of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals, when numerous large businesses and countries have agreed to work on, includingSDG第6号：“确保对所有人的水和卫生。”

星期二的百事可乐宣布一个项目，为拉丁美洲最大的五个城市和大多数水强调地区的五个左右的分水岭补充：墨西哥城和墨西哥蒙特雷;圣保罗，巴西;波哥大，哥伦比亚;和危地马拉市，危地马拉。

该公司为300万美元的“地球水”项目旨在恢复600,000立方米的含水层 - 相当于可能拥有15800万加仑的水 - 并将与自然保护（TNC）合作开展。这两个组织预测这将需要七年。但它可以提供恢复水质，减少洪水和干旱的自然驱动，低成本的方式，并提高水安全性。

Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of PepsiCo Latin America, told GreenBiz, "What we are doing is focusing on water security in five (geographic) areas. These are clearly water-stressed areas."

They are also where PepsiCo has manufacturing operations and franchisees that run bottling operations. Guatemala City, for instance, is the company’s Central America hub.

Replenishing watersheds will help everyone in the area.

“Replenishing watersheds will help everyone in the area." Narasimhan said. "It is our commitment to the local community. We are using water in these areas so we want to replenish as much of it as we can... Rather than withdrawing water in one community and replenishing it in another, we want to be responsible to the community."

这不是一种新方法。“Watersheds are a very good example of how green infrastructure can replace or is better than gray infrastructure," said Mark Tercek, president of TNC, which has been working in Latin America to restore aquifers, watersheds and tree protection. For instance, building levees or cement walls to hold back floods would not provide relief from drought nor act as carbon sinks the way forests do.

“A project like this with PepsiCo is so important because ultimately we want to show the world there is an opportunity to invest in green infrastructure broadly," he said.

Specific actions

What will the watershed restoration and replenishment work look like on the ground? It includes replanting trees and working with farmers and city leaders to avoid taking down trees where possible in favor of conservation methods of farming.

流域是绿色基础设施如何更换或优于灰色基础设施的一个非常好的例子。

“We will work on the reparation of ground water aquifers. We are seeing that in rainy seasons the supply of water is far higher than the capacity of the ground to infiltrate water for groundwater recharge" because the ground or soil has lost its capacity to absorb, said Hugo Contreras, regional director for freshwater in TNC Latin America.

In Bogota, where upland wetlands in the past acted as natural filtration of sediment as water flows down hillsides, the wetlands need to be restored. The water supply to the city is full of sediment, Contreras said.

Gabriela de la Garza, sustainability director for PepsiCo Latin America, said, "We are looking at how we can contribute to the long-term sustainability of the aquifers from which we draw water to make sure the communities have enough water."

该项目应提供更多的水和更清洁的水，估计有900万人蔓延到五个城市。最终，在百事可乐的目标下，它希望为2500万人提供安全的水。

“It is not only for access to water but for the sustainability of the watershed and water supply from which people draw water for their homes, and [from which] companies draw water for their operations," she said.

de la garza说这项工作是百事可乐的一部分Performance with Purpose 2025 Agenda，上个月宣布，阐述未来10年的可持续发展目标和计划。竞彩足球app怎么下载它呼吁具有“积极的水域”，或者将水安全性和提高水资源和城市的供水和质量，而不仅仅是为了自己的行动。

百事可乐旨在通过其可持续发展目标来提供安全，清洁水竞彩足球app怎么下载至2500万人。

通过侦探hnology and water use efficiency, it has cut down water use in its operations by 26 percent in the past decade. Now it aims to cut use an additional 25 percent. In its food operations in Mexico, PepsiCo has improved water efficiency by 47 percent.