Water is the lifeblood of our planet, yet its future is anything but guaranteed. In Season 2 of Distilled, host Will Sarni asks every guest a critical question: “What does the future of water look like?” From innovators and scientists to policymakers and advocates, each perspective offers a window into the challenges, opportunities, and urgent actions needed to safeguard our precious resource.
Across 5 episodes, the conversations move beyond pipes and policies, exploring everything from equitable access and ecosystem thinking to multi-stakeholder collaboration and economic valuation. This unique blend of insights doesn’t just highlight problems; it points the way forward, showing how knowledge, ambition, and collaboration can transform the future of water.
Hosted by Will Sarni, Distilled is a video podcast series that features water leaders from around the world. Each one-on-one conversation explores the guest’s unique career path, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the water industry, and considers what’s next for water.
Explore the Future of Water on YouTube; find the complete series of Distilled episodes here.
Mina Guli: The future of water has no room for excuses
For Mina Guli, water advocate and CEO of Thirst Foundation, the future of water demands bold, decisive action — and there’s no room to hide behind the excuse of “complexity.”
She argues that water must be elevated to the top of every government, corporate, and financial agenda, rather than treated as an afterthought. Putting water at the center of every decision, she says, is the key to achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals. Central to her vision is transforming humanity’s relationship with water, so that it’s recognized as the foundation for energy, climate, and environmental outcomes.
Water is everything, but we’ve treated it for too long as if it’s nothing. That has to change fundamentally, and it has to change everywhere.”
Mina insists that complexity cannot be a reason for inaction. By making water a central priority, Mina argues, society can create solutions that ripple across environmental, social, and economic systems — solutions that are practical, scalable, and urgent.
Carolina García Arbeláez: We need to view water as part of a larger system
Co-founder of Myzelio, Carolina García Arbeláez, sees the future of water through the lens of interconnected systems. She believes the future lies in us reconnecting with the natural systems that sustain life, warning that focusing narrowly on water availability misses the bigger picture: lasting solutions must integrate water, biodiversity, and carbon, considering the health of entire landscapes.
Businesses and policymakers are beginning to see this. Water management can no longer happen in isolation. It’s entwined with ecosystems, climate resilience, and human well-being. Carolina envisions a future where sectors and disciplines collaborate, where environmental stewardship and business strategy reinforce one another, and where decisions are informed by the full complexity of the natural world.
I believe the connection between water and nature is the future. For the first time, people are looking at things more holistically. Whereas companies used to focus just on water replenishment, there’s now a shift toward seeing how water, biodiversity, and carbon are all linked. I believe — and really hope — that’s the direction we’re heading in.”
She cautions, however, that progress isn’t just about frameworks, targets, or reporting metrics. Real change depends on a wide coalition of actors — from governments to local communities to private enterprises — taking coordinated action.
Carolina also believes that one of the biggest risks to a more secure future is the relentless push for immediate solutions without any deep reflection. Biodiversity credits, renewable energy projects, and reforestation efforts, for example, can feel like solutions, but without examining the systems that first created the problems, we risk replacing one unsustainable model with another.
For her, the future of water demands imagination, dialogue, and bold rethinking — a willingness to rethink our relationship with the planet and the way we value life itself.
Jay Famiglietti: The future is stressed and complex — but we need all hands on deck
Pioneering satellite hydrologist, Global Futures Professor at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, and former NASA JPL Senior Water Scientist Jay Famiglietti paints a more sobering picture: global water systems are under unprecedented stress, and the clock is quickly ticking.
We’ve accomplished a lot, but the problem is just so much bigger. I think that we’ve reached an all-hands-on-deck moment. And I think that this moment scales from local to regional to national to global. And I believe that if we don’t start making progress at those different scales, we’re going to reach a point of no return.”
While advances in technology and science give us tools to act, the scale of the challenge demands urgent coordination from local communities through to international agencies.
Collaboration, Jay argues, is essential. Agriculture alone consumes most of the world’s freshwater, making alignment between governments, businesses, and researchers critical. Without a truly “all-hands-on-deck” approach, water scarcity will threaten to decimate ecosystems, economies, and human lives.
Andy Smith: We need to construct a future where water saves lives
Head of Smart Water at Anglian Water, Andy Smith, reminds us of water’s most fundamental function: it is life itself. He says that whatever actions we take, the future of water must prioritize universal access to safe drinking water and dignified sanitation. Inequities in access are deadly, particularly for vulnerable communities.
Andy stresses that collaboration and collective action are key to sustainable water use. Governments, businesses, and civil society must work together to conserve, manage, and distribute water equitably. For him, confronting water scarcity, contamination, and infrastructure gaps isn’t just a technical challenge but a huge moral imperative.
So many people die every day because they don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. As water specialists or water lovers, we have a great opportunity to shape that future. Yes, there are challenges. We all know there are challenges. But water is the most precious resource we have. It is life-giving.”
When we place people at the center of water management, Andy says that the future of water will be focused on dignity and human rights.
James Dalton: The future of water depends on embracing complexity and multi-stakeholder collaboration
James Dalton, Director of IUCN‘s Global Water Programme, sees the future of water as a balance between promise and frustration. New players are entering the space alongside established institutions, yet the pace of change itself is slow, and collaboration is often lacking. Stakeholders from governments, corporations, and civil society have the potential to solve each other’s problems, but too often operate alone.
There are so many great things, great institutions, and new people coming to the table. But things are not moving fast enough. There’s a lack of dynamism between different stakeholder groups working together; they could be solving each other’s problems and working collaboratively. And yet they’re not — often because they come from different parts of the water sector.“
James argues that no single global structure can manage the complexity of water systems or the diversity of actors involved. Instead, he advocates for multi-stakeholder partnerships, where private finance, governments, civil society, and local communities collaborate.
For James, the key is keeping diverse actors engaged and leveraging their social, economic, and environmental motivations. And by recognizing that everyone has different entry points and priorities, the sector can mobilize diverse actors without relying on a single top-down structure. For James, the future of water depends on collaboration, adaptability, and leveraging the collective energy of stakeholders to drive meaningful, scalable change.
James’ vision is clear: to secure water’s future, we must coordinate action, embrace systemic complexity, and empower the individuals and organizations driving change.
Turning insights into action for a more sustainable and resilient future
The future of water is complex, urgent, but ultimately full of opportunity. Across these five perspectives, a clear message emerges: achieving meaningful change requires collaboration, ambition, and a shift in how we value water. The path forward depends on bold ideas and collective action.
Water is not just a resource — it’s life, a foundation for economies, and a linchpin for our planet’s systems. The insights from Mina, Carolina, Jay, Andy, and James remind us that we cannot wait. From governments and businesses to researchers and communities, everyone has a role to play.
