Water, innovation, and sustainability: A strategic vision for Mexico’s future
The conversation around water in Mexico has long expanded beyond the environmental sphere. Today, discussing water sustainability also means addressing competitiveness, economic resilience, innovation, and long-term growth. Across the private sector and in technological innovation, an increasing number of leaders are driving models designed to balance economic development with environmental preservation.
With a career closely tied to sustainability, innovation, and business transformation, Daniel Madariaga, the latest addition to Aquatech Mexico's advisory board, shares his perspective on Mexico’s most pressing water challenges, the role of technology, and the importance of collaboration between industry, government, and academia in building long-term solutions.
The origins of a sustainability-driven vision
Madariaga’s interest in sustainability began shortly after graduating from university, when he had the opportunity to work with a venture capital fund focused on environmental projects. This experience allowed him to evaluate initiatives from multiple perspectives: financial, operational, environmental, and sustainability-related.
From that point on, a central question emerged: how can we protect the environment while simultaneously developing economically viable and sustainable long-term business models?
“The reality is that if environmental solutions are not financially sustainable, they are unlikely to generate a meaningful and lasting impact,” Madariaga explains.
On a personal level, he also acknowledges the influence of a partner who is deeply aware of environmental challenges and committed to creating a positive impact. This shared vision has been a key motivator in staying engaged in a sector that often faces resistance, conflicting interests, and structural challenges.
“In this space, persistence is essential; you simply cannot give up,” he adds.
Mexico’s major water challenges
From Madariaga's perspective, some of Mexico’s most critical challenges stem from the significant volume of water regularly lost through inefficient irrigation systems, leaks in hydraulic infrastructure, and the contamination of water bodies, such as rivers and lakes.
At the same time, he emphasises that Mexico has extraordinary ‘innovation capacity’ and human talent.
Indeed, the country has seen a wave of major investments in water infrastructure since former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was elected the country’s 66th president in 2024. As well as infrastructure and investment, the president remodelled the country’s entire relationship with water, enshrining access to clean water as a human right into national law as part of the National Water Plan 2024-2030.
The real issue is ensuring those ideas receive the support, resources, and mechanisms needed to become a reality
Fast forward two years, and despite the ongoing water challenges experienced in the country, projects are underway that have the singular goal of securing water security for Mexico’s citizens, industry and agriculture.
“Countless people are thinking every day about solutions to water-related challenges,” Madariaga add. “The real issue is ensuring those ideas receive the support, resources, and mechanisms needed to become a reality.”
It is precisely under this premise that Aquavance was created; a platform designed to accelerate innovative projects in the water sector by providing mentorship, resources, and strategic support to transform ideas into implementable solutions.
Water as a strategic issue
Water sustainability, Madariaga argues, can no longer be framed solely as an environmental or regulatory concern.
“Water has become a strategic issue. A company or a city may have investment, talent, and demand, but without sustainable access to water, growth will inevitably face limits.”
Pressure from urban expansion, industrialisation, climate change, and infrastructure gaps is forcing a fundamental rethinking of water management across Mexico and Latin America. In this context, Madariaga believes the conversation must evolve beyond simply reducing consumption.
“The key will be to manage water more effectively: reuse it, treat it, measure it, digitise it, and rely much more heavily on technology and innovation.”
The key will be to manage water more effectively: reuse it, treat it, measure it, digitise it
Organisations that understand and embrace this transition early, he notes, will be significantly more resilient and competitive in the long term.
This echoes what Tamara Luengo, another Aquatech Mexico advisory board member, told Aquatech Online recently: “One of the most valuable and challenging lessons has been understanding, from my engineering background, that infrastructure alone does not solve problems. While it can be a powerful catalyst for change, for example, in providing water access to communities, it requires a broader ecosystem to be effective in the long term,” she said.
Before adding: “Public policy, community participation, social trust, and financing mechanisms are all essential components. This realisation transformed my perspective as an engineer and allowed me to approach water challenges from a more holistic and integrated standpoint.”
Technology and artificial intelligence: the future of water
One of the areas that gives Madariaga the greatest sense of optimism is the potential of technology applied to the water sector. Through initiatives like Aquavance, he has observed projects focused on optimising agricultural irrigation, detecting leaks through artificial intelligence, and developing advanced monitoring systems.
Aquavance is an award that aims to inspire and recognise innovation in water-focused entrepreneurship. It invites entrepreneurs, students, NGOs and startups to participate, creating a network of people committed to tackling the country’s water crisis by creating solutions for real-world problems.
“Artificial intelligence, when properly applied, will be key to achieving far more efficient water use,” he asserts.
At the same time, he acknowledges that the expansion of artificial intelligence will introduce new challenges, particularly due to the significant water consumption required to cool data centres and servers.
Madariaga also highlights the vast potential of technologies focused on water treatment and reuse. As an example, he mentions Anitik, winner of the Aquavance 2025 award, whose technology leverages nanotechnology to optimise water filtration and purification processes.
Beyond the narrative: sustainability with real impact
At a time when nearly every organisation claims to prioritise sustainability, Madariaga stresses the importance of distinguishing between genuine strategy and corporate storytelling.
“Today, many companies talk about sustainability as a marketing tool or because they belong to high-impact industries and are trying to offset that impact in some way.”
The companies that truly make a difference, he explains, are those that make long-term decisions, measure results, and understand that sustainability is also about operational efficiency, resilience, and competitiveness.
“When sustainability genuinely influences how you operate, invest, and grow, it stops being rhetoric and becomes a core business strategy.”
The importance of collaboration
Another major challenge, he notes, is ensuring that industry, academia, government, and specialists do not continue working in isolation.
“Water and infrastructure challenges are far too large for any single sector to solve independently.”
Each stakeholder plays a distinct yet complementary role: industry brings execution capabilities and investment; academia drives innovation and knowledge; government creates regulatory frameworks and enabling conditions; and experts help connect these elements into practical solutions.
When genuine collaboration exists among these sectors, results come faster—and with greater impact.
Aquatech Mexico as a platform for transformation
Joining the Advisory Board of Aquatech Mexico represents, in his view, an opportunity to contribute to a conversation that will only grow in importance across Mexico and the region.
“I’m interested in bringing a perspective strongly focused on execution, innovation, and collaboration between industry, technology, and investment,” he says.
He also aims to support the vast pool of Mexican talent that often struggles to move forward due to a lack of resources, connections, or the support needed to implement solutions, adding, “What we need today are more spaces where ideas can truly become concrete projects.”
This is precisely where platforms like Aquatech Mexico play a critical role: creating meaningful connections among companies, operators, investors, entrepreneurs, government, and technical experts to accelerate scalable and sustainable solutions.
He believes: “Latin America faces enormous challenges, but it also has a tremendous opportunity to adopt smarter, more sustainable technologies and management models.”
