The Geopolitics of Water
A perspective that will transform how you see the industry.
It’s Podcast Time
A new episode will be released on The Water MBA platform (link provided at the end of this email). As usual, I’ll share the story behind it and some reflections. Next week…
From time to time, we release episodes aimed at reaching a broader audience, allowing professionals to both learn and experience the philosophy and approach of The Water MBA in preparing and sharing knowledge.
This time, we present a Spanish-language episode about geopolitics in Spain, featuring the incredible guest Darío Salinas from the Cassini Group.
It’s already available in all our features, such as our platform, Youtube and Spotify. No excuses :)
The episode was recorded in two parts, in April and June 2024. Crafting the script and reflecting the themes we wanted to convey required significant time and effort. Our goal was to create a meaningful episode that provides a holistic view of water management in Spain.
I am deeply passionate about geopolitics. I love exploring how it shapes our daily lives. As you know, human nature is far from perfect, and geopolitics often reflects both the best and worst aspects of humanity through conflicts and power dynamics.
In Spain, the story of water management spans nearly 100 years.
If we had to choose a project that encapsulates all the complexities of water management in one place, it would undoubtedly be the “Trasvase Tajo-Segura” (Tagus-Segura Transfer Project). This project was a remarkable solution for enabling southeastern Spain—a very arid yet highly productive agricultural region—to thrive.
What makes this even more fascinating is how nationalism and political interests have shaped their own narratives to secure the best outcomes for their respective stakeholders. Lobbying efforts from various industries, particularly agriculture, have also played a major role in influencing decisions.
However, there’s another side to the story. Despite being one of the most technologically advanced regions in the world for water optimization and reuse, intensive agriculture poses significant challenges.
The episode also highlights the importance of policymakers who had the foresight to implement desalination plants. It’s remarkable that today, even in the most arid regions, droughts and water shortages are less critical, thanks to these plants providing a steady and reliable freshwater supply.
We also touch on how Spain's integration into Europe has influenced its water policies.
This episode is one of my favorites—though it’s lengthy, running over two hours. The first half includes English subtitles due to some recording setup issues.
Oh, I almost forgot the best part! The entire episode is supported by impressive maps created by Darío Salinas and his team at Cassini. While the maps are in French due to the company’s origins, each map and slide tells its own compelling story.
My advice is to watch the episode at your own pace, in a big screen or TV, focusing on the details and pausing to examine the maps. Take your time—even if it takes days or weeks to finish.
I hope you enjoy the episode, learn something new, or even feel inspired to debate or share a different perspective.
General Stuff
In this section, I’ll highlight notable congresses, webinars, and more. This week…
I’m probably not quite ready to attend these types of forums just yet. However, after speaking with many C-suite professionals in our industry, a common sentiment is that Global Water Summit is considered the best for business purposes. The key players are always there.
As GWI itself describes it: “Three full days of peerless networking, interactive sessions, and unrivaled business opportunities.”
If any of you reading this article are attending, please share your insights with us afterward!
PS: The marketing team deserves an Oscar for this—brilliantly blending the AI hype of Artificial Intelligence with the motto “Accelerating Investment.” An awesome move!
Youtube Channel
We have renewed our YouTube channel, organizing all the content we’ve shared so far. This update will make it easier to access all the free resources in one convenient place.
The content is now categorized, including sections such as our Podcast, curated videos from the web worth sharing, trailers we’ve published, and quick knowledge "water pills" for beginners, among others.
As YouTube is widely used by both adults and younger audiences, we invite you to explore the channel and share it with others.
We’d also greatly appreciate it if you could click the Subscribe button on our channel. The platform unlocks certain features after surpassing 500 subscribers, which will help us continue improving and growing.
Asking for Help
Sometimes, value is hidden. It takes research, conversations, and understanding to identify professionals who align with our purpose and can bring valuable contributions to our platform and community. If you know someone who makes you think, “If this person had an episode on The Water MBA, I’d definitely watch it,” please share your suggestions, and I’ll do my best to bring them on board. From my side this week…
Do you know someone that can help me craft another episode related to Geopolitics? The result in the Spanish Version has been so valuable, that I would like to create two new episodes in these topics that I feel a huge interest:
Nile River & Dams: Egypt-Ethiopia-Sudan
Water Streams from Tibet and the Triangle India-China-Pakistan.
Should you know or come accross someone that may have a deep understanding of those 2 topics to complement the researches I am already developing, please put me in contact.
I have a friend who I know would benefit greatly from learning about the water business, but he keeps postponing it and always comes up with excuses, saying, “What can I learn that isn’t already on YouTube?”
Our approach to building and establishing our brand will be authentic and unique—nothing like what’s already out there.
In the meantime, though, feel free to check out this YouTube video to learn more about the Nile River issue! 🙂
Below is the link to access the platform. Remember, the subscription is fully flexible, and there’s a 3-day free trial. If any episode piques your interest, the cost won’t stand in your way.
That’s all for today.
See you next week.