US water resources badly managed

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- The tragedy of the California fires should remind us of the invaluable resource of water. It's a resource that we can't live without, that is vital to our existence in so many ways, from what we drink, to what we eat, to manufacturing, and sanitation.
Yet, water is growing scarcer with dramatic implications for the future.
Water systems in the U.S. are in dire need of repair and revamping -- billions of dollars worth. Reservoirs and aqueducts are in need of more efficiency, as are drainage and sewer systems. Municipal water systems are at emergency levels. Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area, (The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system in the world), is at its lowest point in more than 80 years.
When is America going to wake up and address the commodity of freshwater?
Private and publicly traded water companies are stretched thin handling all the business that is afforded them. (Water as an investment has outperformed the S&P 500 for years.)
The scarcer supply and increased demand has caused water utility prices and rates to rise.
Water should be a bigger business proposition than it is today. It needs a market unto itself, and perhaps then, when private interests work the market, inefficiencies will winnow.
As it stands, water systems are all over the map. Here's why: There are individual municipal water systems that control supply for their consumers. There are regional water suppliers that control their outputs and allocations. There are private water suppliers. And there is federal oversight of water source supply and regulation.
But these principals are sometimes, if not often, at odds, forcing discrimination and inefficient methods of distribution between suppliers and consumers.
More private water companies should arise and force the market to decide who gets what. You can bet that there will be efficiency then. To be sure, there should be basic provisos for water access, etc. But there should be incentives to provide efficiencies that we can choose to tap as consumers.
For example, the average building in the average climate can meet its water needs -- its people's needs -- simply by capturing the rainwater from its roof. Meanwhile, municipalities let up to 70% of their freshwater supply run off and flow away, without recapture. Municipal systems allow water to recklessly flow to rivers and oceans because of poorly constructed drainage systems.
There is a need for basic water needs to be provided and water utilities to step up with more choices for consumers (sort of like a phone company with basic service).
It's time we focused on the water crisis this country faces, and focused on efficiencies rather than bureaucratic means to solve the problem.
Most experts say we have enough water in the country to meet our needs, but we are just doing a bad job of water management.
The fires raging in California, the water emergencies in Georgia, and the increased likelihood those circumstances will occur again because of global warming are tangible reason enough for us to take the current water crisis and the future water crises more seriously.
An important first step would be for Congress to pass the Clean Water Restoration Act, sponsored by Reps. John Dingell, D-Mich., and James Oberstar, D-Minn.
October marks the 35th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which was designed to clean up the nation's water supply and wetlands. The Clean Water Restoration Act modernizes that important piece of legislation to give us better mandates to clean up our water systems. A recent study, quoted by the congressmen, found that in 2005, 57% of all major U.S. industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution into our waterways than allowed by law, and that the average facility exceeded its pollution permit limit by 263%, discharging close to four times the legal limit.
Cleaner water is more water.
And we are in desperate need of that.