PepsiCo awards $1.5 million grant to Water Replenishment District

PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA) has granted $1.5 million to the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), the largest groundwater agency in the state of California, to help manage and protect local groundwater resources to more than four million residents.

“Partnering with the Water Replenishment District of Southern California will not only help enable longterm, sustainable water security for local communities who depend on an accessible and reliable supply of clean, safe water,” said Johannes Evenblij, President of West Division at PepsiCo Beverages North America “through PepsiCo Positive, our end-to-end strategic transformation agenda, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. As a food and beverage company, we’re acutely aware of the critical role water plays in the southern California ecosystem, and our community.”

The partnership will improve drought resiliency and pilot WRD’s first inland injection well for utilization
of in-ground storage. When complete, the project will store an average of 325,851 million gallons of water per year for municipal and indirect use, drought resiliency and mitigation.

“The Water Replenishment District is proud to be the first public agency to receive a water sustainability
grant from PepsiCo,” said Water Replenishment District Board President John D.S. Allen. “This grant will help build our region’s drought resilience for years to come. The WRD Board of Directors commend and applaud PepsiCo for their commitment to protecting our watershed.”