Additionally, it challenges several commonly held notions about what constitutes sustainable lithium mining. Mining lithium has the potential to destabilize already fragile ecosystems that support uncommon flora and fauna, as well as the Indigenous cultures that have long lived there. Corkran added, “Instead, companies should be pumping water from the briniest patches they can find.”Consider what happens to water when it freezes. In other words, pumping out additional salt water has no effect; yet, pumping out fresh water causes the salar's groundwater-dependent wetlands to disappear. “What this all adds up to is that we don’t have to be all that concerned about pumping brine.