Is freshwater more valuable than oil?

The most valuable commodity in the world today, and likely to remain so for much of this century, is not oil, not natural gas, not even some type of renewable energy. It’s water—clean, safe, fresh water.
According to Bloomberg News in the USA, the worldwide scarcity of usable water worldwide already has made water more valuable than oil. The Bloomberg World Water Index, which tracks 11 utilities, investment in water has returned 35 percent to investors every year since 2003, compared with 29 percent for oil and gas stocks and 10 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
“There is only one direction for water prices at the moment, and that’s up,” said Hans Peter Portner, who manages a $2.9 billion US Water Fund at Pictet Asset Management in Geneva, according to a report by Bloomberg News. The value of the fund increased 26 percent in 2005, and Portner expects water to provide 8 percent annual returns through to 2020.
Apparently, the smart money has already spotted the trend and many of the world’s leading investors and most successful companies are making big bets on water as they can make a great deal of money out of it. The research shows that there simply isn’t enough freshwater to go around, and the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better.
Nations are increasingly turning to desalination of sea water as an alternative. Many Middle East nations have huge desalination plants producing fresh water.
In the Cook Islands, desalination has not been seriously regarded as an option and reliance is still mainly on rainfall (Rarotonga) and underground sources (outer islands).
Delivering clean, fresh water and maintaining that delivery comes at a price. The public needs to be aware that government is seriously considering introducing water rates in order to pay for the Chinese loan of $39 million for the proposed upgrade of our water system – they just haven’t told the public yet let alone held consultations.
Governments in the past have been very reluctant to charge for water knowing that it would be very unpopular with voters – especially in an election year - but the bureaucrats and bean counters and most of the lenders would certainly like to see that.
The Asian Development Bank pointed out in a recent report that charges for water cannot be justified unless delivery meets acceptable standards in terms of reliance, maintenance and especially health.
Funny thing is successive administrations and bureaucrats have been reluctant to charge rates for water from large commercial users such as resorts and water bottlers but are quite prepared to consider charges to supply water to householders.