How do you help fight California’s drought? One way is to replenish local supplies of water. More than 50 Coca-Cola employees helped do just that on Saturday, April 5, at Wildwood Picnic Area.

The Angeles National Forest provides the Los Angeles region with 33 percent of its water, with the Big Tujunga Watershed as the largest local source of water for the City of Los Angeles. The critical role this area provides to the region’s water supply is one of the reasons the NFF focused efforts on the Angeles as a Treasured Landscape . After the devastating Station Fire scorched 252 square miles, including 90 percent of the Big Tujunga Watershed, the NFF recognized the need for large-scale restoration. Coca-Cola employees came out to support the restoration of this natural resource by removing invasive weeds that steal water from the ecosystem and reduce native habitat for birds and butterflies. The work of the employees is the culmination of a partnership between Coca-Cola, the U.S. Forest Service, and the NFF that removed invasive weeds from 200 acres in the Big Tujunga canyon and replenished 2.4 million liters of water back to nature.

This effort is part of the NFF’s program to restore the headwaters of National Forests across the country. The NFF significantly leveraged the contribution from Coca-Cola to accomplish this important conservation project on the ground. Of course Smokey Bear, the spectacular weather, support from Coca-Cola and the US Forest Service, all helped make this a fantastic day up in Los Angeles Backyard Forest.