Water and the "Misery Index"

As the “misery index” tied to gas prices raises the discomfort level for U.S. politicians, we easily forget that in many cases we still pay more for bottled water than we do for auto fuel. According to most reliable sources, the value of water is headed in only one direction: up. There is no “hybrid technology” on the horizon that will lower the demand for clean water.
Beyond the fact that half of the world’s hospital beds are taken up by people with water-born illnesses, there is a quiet worldwide competition for large water resources going on in both private and public. As shown by recent events like Canada taking action to prevent the bulk removal of water from its springs and rivers, private investors consider primary water sources to be of critical importance.
Take, for example, Ted Turner, who owns more land than The Nature Conservancy (800,000 vs. 647,500 acres), and whose first purchase in Patagonia in 1996 was all about water ownership, according to this article by Janet Bush in the New Zealand Herald.
Why should this be of worry to fly fishers? Because inevitably people put themselves before fish, and they do so long before conditions become as bad as they are in parts of Africa. (Bush also argues that “hydro-nationalism” is part of Israel’s recent entry into southern Lebanon.)
It makes Ted Turner’s massive purchases seem prescient, at the very least. One thing is for sure: Turner is likely the last person to have to worry much about finding a place to indulge his passion for fly fishing.