Coca-Cola Leaves It to Beavers to Fight the Drought

(Photo: Flickr)


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/09/23/coca-cola-using-beavers-increase-water-supply

SEP 23, 2015 Erica Gies is an independent journalist who writes about the core requirements for life—water and energy—from Victoria, British Columbia, and San Francisco.


What do Coca-Cola and beavers have in common? It sounds like the setup of a bad joke, but the fates of beavers and bottlers look increasingly intertwined. Coke is funding the deployment of beavers in the United States to build dams and create ponds that can replenish water supplies for local ecosystems and ultimately, people.

Coca-Cola received a ton of bad press a decade ago for drawing down groundwater near one of its plants in India, depriving local farmers of water for their crops. Funding beavers’ work is part of the company’s commitment to replenishing the water it consumes.
Coke is not alone in employing Mother Nature to increase water supplies. In 2013, governments, businesses, and donors invested $12.3 billion in nature-based solutions to protect and restore watersheds across an area larger than India, according to a report from Ecosystem Marketplace, a nonprofit organization that tracks environmental markets.

Ancient wisdom about water cycles is resurfacing, acting as a counterpoint to the “engineer into submission" mentality that marked much of the 20th century.

FULL story at link.