News
‘Climate is water’
Healthy rivers critical to global efforts to adapt to climate change, says new report.
21 July 2019
This article first appeared in our Earth Day 2026 issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Main image: Yelapa, Mexico – in this Indigenous coastal community near Puerto Vallarta, it became a nightly ritual to buy ice cream for the local children. Here, village families gathered for the evening treat alongside Corey Boaz (right) and other members of the Salt and Soil team.
Access to clean water changes lives, and how we deliver that water determines the future of our environment.
This is why I took on Salt and Soil; the decision was guided by a belief that runs far deeper than the desire to build systems or a platform to attract investment. It’s about people and the ecosystems on which they depend.
The communities we serve often have very little; something as simple as a drink of clean water or the ability to bathe safely can completely change the trajectory of a person’s life. It impacts health, dignity, opportunity and future generations.
At the same time, we believe that solving one problem should never create another. Water security and environmental stewardship are not competing priorities, they are the same responsibility. That was a powerful realisation, and it’s what drives everything we do.
My background is in infrastructure. I’ve spent over 15 years building complex utility systems across multiple sectors, including water, energy and telecommunications. I’ve worked in environments where infrastructure either exists or it doesn’t – and the difference is everything.
Salt and Soil is a full-spectrum water solutions company. What differentiates us is our ability to apply the right solution for the environment, and focus on delivering the most effective, sustainable water solution for a specific location.
This is important because different environments require different tools; our role is to evaluate the conditions, constraints and long-term needs of a community, and deploy the right combination of technologies to deliver reliable, sustainable water security.
We are well known for our work in advanced intake systems; our patented slant well technology is extremely effective in many coastal conditions, but our approach goes far beyond a single method.
Our responsibility is to solve the entire water problem, so we design and deliver integrated water infrastructure across the full lifecycle. This includes everything from water sourcing and intake systems (subsurface, offshore and hybrid solutions) to treatment, desalination, transmission, distribution, water reuse and long-term sustainability planning.
We hold intellectual property and expertise across multiple intake and water system designs, which allows us to remain flexible and responsive. This ensures that each project is engineered for long-term success rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all approach.
In many cases, we deploy subsurface intake methods that draw seawater through natural geological filtration before treatment. This protects marine ecosystems, reduces the use of chemicals and improves efficiency.
While subsurface intake is one of our most effective approaches in coastal environments, every project is evaluated independently. In some cases, alternative intake, treatment or reuse strategies may be more appropriate.
We’re seeing a significant increase in demand from coastal communities as sea levels continue to rise and freshwater sources decline. The urgency is real, but so is the opportunity to solve these problems the right way.
The projects we are most proud of are not defined by size but by impact. When you provide reliable, clean water to a community, you change everything from the health and economic opportunity of its citizens to the long-term stability of the community itself.
We operate under a simple principle: everyone wins. Communities gain reliable water, the environment is protected or improved and the economics support long-term sustainability. If a project doesn’t meet those criteria, and deliver water security for more than 40 years, we don’t pursue it.
As the global need for water increases there will be growing pressure to move faster – but lowering environmental standards is not the answer.
Innovation allows us to meet urgency without compromising integrity. We actively reinvest into communities that lack access to clean water because this issue is not just economic, it’s human.
Providing water security for more than 40 years changes everything; it allows communities to grow sustainably and protect their future.
If we get this right, we’re not just solving water scarcity – we’re improving lives while protecting the very environments on which those lives depend. That’s the goal.
Healthy rivers critical to global efforts to adapt to climate change, says new report.
UN scientists formally define ‘new post-crisis reality for billions’, and call for a fundamental reset of global water agenda.
Half the world’s countries have degraded freshwater systems, UN finds.
17-year-old Rahmina Paullete, climate activist at Fridays for Future, on her campaign to conserve the environment and improve livelihoods in Kisumu, Kenya.
