Coca-Cola Funding and Volunteer Event Propel Critical Watershed Restoration to Near Completion

500-acre meadow sits atop the Sierra Divide and is in the headwaters of the Mokelumne River watershed.

The funding for the Indian Valley Restoration Project was boosted to nearly $367,000 with the help of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).

The Mokelumne River watershed accounts for 94 percent of the East Bay Municipal Utility District impacting much of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. This includes Coca-Cola's San Leandro production facility which derives its water from East Bay Mud. http://www.ebmud.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/water_supply_system2003.pdf

Rene Hom, Coca-Cola's vice president of Product Supply Systems for the Northwest Region, which includes Northern California, said The Company's aim is to meet its water needs while helping to conserve watersheds and improve community access around the world.

"Water stewardship is top of our list of sustainability efforts," Hom said. "Coca-Cola is committed to replenishing water to communities and nature through local projects, such as this. Our other two objectives are to reduce the amount of water we use in producing our beverages and recycling water used in our manufacturing processes so it can be returned safely to the environment."

The work is nearly completed after 25 Coca-Cola associates spent September 29 planting willows and other natural foliage that will keep the water patterns healthy for habitat and downstream users. The outcome will be a stream that can access the floodplain and spread out, reducing the energy of the water flow and re-watering the nearby meadow. Similar to environmental sustainability, community support is the foundation of Coca-Cola's Live Positively Commitment. http://m.livepositively.com/

Randy Moore, Pacific Southwest Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service, said his office will continue build upon the model established with Coca-Cola and explore new ways to accomplish collaborative ecological restoration work. Other volunteer partners include NFWF, American Rivers, Alpine Watershed Group, Foothill Conservancy, Institute for Bird Populations, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California.

"The Indian Valley Restoration Project is proof of what can happen when people work toward a common vision," Moore said. "Coca-Cola's example of seeing beyond the bottling plant to sustaining the forest ecosystems is a view that ...

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