Spain's Segura River: Restoring 70M Liters by 2025

The Segura River Watershed Restoration project in Spain, led by practitioners with ANSE and volunteers, focuses on nature-based solutions to achieve 70 million liters of water replenishment by 2025. Methods involve removing invasive species from riverbanks to restore natural hydrology, followed by replanting native vegetation such as riparian trees and shrubs that stabilize soil and enhance infiltration. This contributed to PepsiCo's milestone of 100% watershed replenishment in high-risk areas, replenishing nearly 29 billion liters globally in 2025 through over 60 projects. Practical details include manual invasive plant extraction to minimize soil disturbance, selective herbicide application where needed, and planting schedules aligned with wet seasons for establishment. The project improves ecosystem health by reviving wetland functions, boosting biodiversity, and strengthening community resilience against floods and droughts. Key insights reveal restored riverbanks increase water retention by promoting deeper root systems and organic matter buildup, directly offsetting industrial water use. Measurable outcomes include volume-based replenishment verified by third parties, with broader impacts on local water security. This practitioner-led effort exemplifies scalable restoration: teams monitor progress via flow gauges and vegetation cover indices, adapting techniques based on species response. PepsiCo's involvement scales these efforts, integrating them with AWS Standard adoption for risk assessment. For practitioners, the model offers concrete steps—site assessments, volunteer mobilization, native seed sourcing—and lessons on partnering with NGOs for sustained impact, advancing sustainable water management in Mediterranean basins facing scarcity.