An Aug. 30 report by Bloomberg news begins:

Water should be more highly valued to reflect its worth and reduce its waste, said Paul Bulcke, chief executive officer at Nestle SA, the world’s biggest food company.

“If something isn’t given a value, people tend to waste it,” Bulcke said at a World Water Week seminar in Stockholm. “Water is our most useful resource but those using it often don’t even cover the costs of its infrastructure.”

An Aug. 16 editorial in The New York Times calls us to not let the opportunity pass us by in the current drought to address water problems and consider how we use and think about water.

The editorial begins:

"We're in the worst drought in the United States since the 1950s, and we’re wasting it.

"Though the drought has devastated corn crops and disrupted commerce on the Mississippi River, it also represents an opportunity to tackle long-ignored water problems and to reimagine how we manage, use and even think about water.