Canadian water shortage coming?

You hear a lot of talk about possible fresh water shortages that could take place in the future. I agree that having water is a good thing, a very good thing. I disagree with the most people in how to insure we have enough water in the future.

My view is that the best way to conserve water is to price it correctly now, so that we don't need to raise the price in the future. The mainstream view is that the best way to conserve water is to keep it out of the hands of Americans. This argument doesn't make much sense. Water is the same as any other resource, if Americans are willing to pay a higher price for it then Canadians, then we can give that money back to the public and end up with a better outcome then if we just restrict trade.

There was a proposal a while back to ship water from Vancouver island down to California on a tanker. The deal was killed because it supposedly set a "bad precedent." The conservation gain was zero, that water now flows into the ocean, but apparently it was worth giving up millions of dollars in revenue.