Charco Bendito: BIER’s Unprecedented Watershed Collaboration in Jalisco, Mexico at World Water Week

World Water Week is the leading conference on global water issues, held every year since 1991. A non-profit event, co-created with leading organizations, World Water Week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds and every corner of the world. Together we develop solutions to the world’s greatest water-related challenges, with topics ranging from food security and health to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis.

World Water Week 2023 is focused on innovation at a time of unprecedented challenges. The theme Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World invites us to rethink how we manage water. BIER is pleased to announce our participation in this year’s event.

Join us for the presentation, Charco Bendito: BIER’s Unprecedented Watershed Collaboration in Jalisco, Mexico. 

• Date: Monday, August 21, 2023
• Time: 18:00 - 19:00
• Location: Online
• Session ID: 10888

The session will be conducted in English and Spanish and is free to attend though pre-registration is required.

As shared previously in the post, BIER Project Spotlight: Charco Bendito, Charco Bendito, or “Blessed Puddle,” is an innovative, first-of-its-kind water stewardship collaboration comprised of beverage industry competitors, the local community, and committed local partners, working collaboratively to address complex watershed challenges in the Municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Jalisco Mexico.

During the World Water Week presentation, participants will learn why and how global beverage and food leaders collaborated to develop and implement this innovative basin-level watershed initiative that addresses three main goals: water accessibility, quality, and availability.

• The session will share the model used to develop this initiative, how it is governed and financed, and the plans for the future, including scaling to have bigger impacts.
• Participants will gain insights into the project's green infrastructure restoration activities, including reforestation and conservation, to increase availability up to up to 4.1 MM m3 by 2023.
• Attendees will leave inspired, knowing how Charco Bendito is promoting equitable water access and connection for the population of San Lucas Evangelista by 2023.
• And a call for action to enlist other participants as we look to scale the project further.

In keeping with Word Water Week’s theme, Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World, which invites us to rethink how we manage water, session participants will be educated and motivated to explore similar watershed collaborations after learning how various stakeholders have united to collaborate on a complex watershed collaboration at the basin level.

Additionally, participants will learn how a group of global companies share responsibilities and manage this diverse and inclusive watershed initiative. This includes how this initiative was first launched as a Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable initiative and transitioned to local members, who now track and manage the initiative through a collaborative process where all participants are expected to be involved and are active.

Collaboration is at the heart of the Charco Bendito project, as such, our presentation aims to invite all collaborators into the effort so we can magnify the impact. BIER is exploring additional watershed collaborations using this model and welcomes participation by others.

Explore the full World Water Week program and register here.