PepsiCo Aims to Repair Watersheds in LatAm Cities Barbara Grady - GreenBiz
go to original November 27, 2016

The Sustainable Development Goals Explained: Clean Water and Sanitation (United Nations)

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 in Latin 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 stresses are common in Guatemala City, Monterrey, Mexico City and elsewhere, a big problem for people and companies there.

But it is the year of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals, when numerous large businesses and countries have agreed to work on, including SDG No. 6: "Ensure access to water and sanitation for all."

PepsiCo has announced a project to replenish the watersheds around five of Latin America’s biggest cities and most water-stressed regions: Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; and Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The company's $3 million "Water for the Planet" project aims to restore 600,000 cubic meters of aquifer land — equivalent to what could hold 158 million gallons of water — and will be carried out in partnership with the Nature Conservancy (TNC). The two organizations predict this will take seven years. But it could provide proof of a nature-driven, low-cost way to restore water quality, abate floods and droughts and boost water security.

Read the rest at GreenBiz

Related: World Bank Calls for Improved Water and Sanitation Access for Latin American Kids (Humanosphere)

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