10. Investment Implications and Opportunities

“Water flows uphill toward money.”
—A common saying, then and now, in the American West

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What do you need to find success among the various subsectors, industries, and companies involved in the water sector? I think an understanding of where the water is on this Earth is the best foundation, because most solutions will be local in implementation if not in production. You also should know something about the science of how water is purified and made potable so that you know what to look for in which subsectors of remediation. Finally, you must understand the political and geopolitical issues involved. Only then will you be able to invest knowledgeably and confidently. I think you now have the foundation to understand which areas might provide the best opportunities.

I see the following as the primary areas of possible interest:

• Nations with all the water they need for industry, agriculture, and their citizens, and that can bargain for downstream concessions by being the upstream provider of water.

• The owners (holders) of water rights in nations where property rights are actually respected.

• The water utilities that process the water that farmers, manufacturers, and consumers buy.

• Consumer product companies making money by selling “special” water.

• Companies involved in desalination.

• Companies involved in water remediation and purification.

• Companies involved in infrastructure—making pipes and pumps and other infrastructure products that are used by the water sector, though perhaps not exclusively by the water sector. (Of course, many firms that consider themselves “water” companies are engaged in more than one of these areas. Maybe that’s why some people prefer to just buy.)

• ETFs that try to cover the “water” front.

Let’s look at each in turn.

Nations with All the Water They Need and That Can Bargain for Downstream Concessions

These countries may or may not be thought of by most as water plays. They are beneficiaries of water because it is one thing they simply don’t have to worry about. They may need to clean it or recycle the gray version, but these countries have plenty of water. I have identified them as having other qualities that I want in selecting a macro investment theme.

I have coined the acronym ANBNC to help remember them. There is only one BRIC or emerging nation among them, and it alone does not share the qualities I find in the others—although it has its own unique set of qualifications. ANBNC stands for Australia, Norway, Brazil, New Zealand, and Canada. All have ample water per capita for the foreseeable future. All save Brazil have a long history of delineation and protection of property rights, respect for the rule of law, a tradition of democratically elected governments, a record of entrepreneurialism complemented by a low bureaucracy level that allows the formation of new business, and low to nonexistent levels of bribery, nepotism, and corruption.

Brazil is an exception. The frustration of starting a business in Brazil is extreme, corruption is rampant, and property rights are a relatively new concept. But Brazil also has massive natural resources; fortuitous geography; and a young, optimistic, vibrant spirit that may well catapult it into the ranks of the stellar “Western democracies” in the coming years.

I don’t necessarily recommend water investments in these nations, although some investments mentioned in other categories are based in these nations. I’m merely pointing out that countries which have ample water and that have other admirable investment qualities as well are ahead of the game. As we measure “the wealth of nations,” these countries start from a higher point.

The Owners of Water Rights in Nations Where Property Rights Are Respected

In this category, I think of the companies, foundations, and individuals who own the “rights” to a particular groundwater under their property or a river that flows through their property.

T. Boone Pickens comes to mind. Via his privately held Mesa Water company, he’s buying up water rights in drought- and tornado-prone Roberts County, Texas left and right.¹ He expects to make more than $1 billion on his investment of $75 million in 30 years. He plans to pump water from the Ogallala aquifer and pump about 200,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually to El Paso, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Here’s my problem with investing alongside the holders of water rights. They are granted by law, yes, but the law is subject to interpretation by the government. And what the government gives, it can and usually does take away. So as long as nobody complains about the fact that the Ogallala aquifer doesn’t really “belong” to T. Boone, and as long as everybody he sells to is happy with the price, and as long as contiguous landowners don’t sue because he’s reducing the value of the water under their land by draining it out of his, and as long as the environmentalists don’t successfully argue that water rights are not the same as oil rights because they are constantly in motion (albeit slowly at times) as part of The Water Cycle, and as long as the government doesn’t decide to expropriate these rights “in the public interest,” you might be able to make money in these plays.

Clearly, I don’t believe all those rosy scenarios will line up for long. With water at $1,000 an acre-foot, no one will get too excited. But if T. Boone is correct and the value of water rises faster than the economy, I believe other interested groups will suddenly find a reason to change how water laws are written. I believe it may be even worse in other nations. Water facilities have been nationalized in a number of emerging markets already. Further nationalization is always a possibility.

If you disagree, here are a couple of interesting companies you may want to conduct due diligence on:

PICO Holdings (PICO) owns 134,130 acre-feet of water rights in Nevada and Arizona, plus a small amount in Colorado, and is currently negotiating for more.² It does this by establishing water rights on property it owns, or by buying someone else’s water rights on other property. If you accept the investment thesis, at least PICO is in the right neighborhood. It’s hard to find two faster-growing states, increasingly filled with Californians escaping their intrusive state’s regulations and taxes, or two more arid geographies. If you make the same assumptions that T. Boone is making for his investment (I don’t), you’d value PICO somewhere between $80 and $90 based on its stored water, water rights, and land.

J.G. Boswell (BWEL) is America’s largest cotton grower. Cotton is a rather water-intensive crop to grow and no fun to pick, I can tell you from personal experience! BWEL is the country’s biggest cotton grower partly because it is the largest landowner in California. That may seem like a booby prize in today’s real estate market, but California, for all its overreaching paternalism, is still the most geographically interesting state, with way more than its share of grandeur and natural beauty. When the economy recovers, and it will, Boswell’s land will be worth more than its current valuation. Finally, the land and the cotton need not fear the next drought. BWEL owns the rights to 15% of the water flowing down the magnificent Kings River.³ If you accept the investment thesis that these water rights are secure from government and public interest (I say again: I don’t accept this!), BWEL is sitting on an in-perpetuity gift from the gods—or at least the Sierras. As long as there’s snow or rain in the Sierras, Boswell has lots of fresh, pure water. If you accept the premise of the syllogism, the water alone is worth the price of the stock, with the land and cotton thrown in for free.

The Water Utilities

This is a far more limited universe than you might imagine. Unlike “America’s investor-owned electric utilities,” more than 80% of the population is served by municipally owned and operated utility districts, or by municipalities of one sort or another themselves. It’s more of a local process. Unlike electric energy utilities, which can send electricity over vast distances relatively cheaply, it costs a lot of money to move something that weighs 8 pounds per gallon. It’s simply impractical and ineffective to try.

The relatively few publicly traded entities are regulated utilities, so they enjoy the advantages and disadvantages of all regulated monopolies. Advantages include steady cash-flow generation and, typically, steady dividend flow and dividend increases, as well as steadily granted rate increases to fund capital expenses needed to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Disadvantages include the fact that they are slow, steady, and boring and—for me, anyway—too expensive for what I get. If I decide to pay higher PEs and price/book than I normally might, I want companies with growth. That doesn’t mean water utilities.

If you disagree, you might do further research on companies such as Aqua America, Inc. (WTR), American Water Works (AWK), the York Water Company (YORK), American States Water (AWR), Connecticut Water Service (CTWS), SJW Corp.—the old San Jose Water Company (SJW), and California Water Service Group (CWT). All provide steady if low yield and probably a lock on future growth in usage.

To provide a little better launch for your due diligence, here’s a slightly more in-depth look at one of these American water utilities.

The largest of them all, Aqua America, Inc., provides water and wastewater systems to 2.5 million U.S. customers. It is the biggest acquirer in the sector, having picked up more than 100 smaller firms in the past five years. As the industry leader, WTR is well positioned to benefit from local, state, and federal government infrastructure spending estimated at something like $300 billion over the next 20 years. Current revenues are about $500 million, and annual rate increases typically run 3% to 5%.

As investments, I prefer water remediation and infrastructure firms, but they will be working for these water utilities as they replace aging pipes, pumps, and plants. Many of the old pipes still being used today have a leakage rate of up to 50%; the number of these dwarf the National Highway System four to one. Surely the water utilities will be able to take a little (legal) vigorish as they manage the efforts, award the contracts, inspect the work, and so on. So there may yet be opportunity in American water utilities.

Personally, I prefer the water utilities beyond U.S. borders, where the problems are more acute and the opportunities to move beyond regulated water acquisition, treatment, and delivery are more numerous. Offshore “utilities” may also cross over and function in the remediation, infrastructure, or desalination businesses. The following are some examples.

Consolidated Water Company (CWCO) is a water utility operating in Belize, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, the Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. Tourists and expatriates have driven growth in demand, especially with developers, who, to attract tourists and expats, have built many golf courses and swimming pools at their resorts and residential communities. Consolidated Water develops and operates seawater desalination plants as well as water distribution systems.

United Utilities PLC (UU), a major British utility, also crosses many national boundaries in providing water and sewage services to a number of current and former Commonwealth countries. UU also conducts a number of unregulated activities in the United Kingdom and overseas.

Then there is Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (SBS). SBS is a Brazilian water utility headquartered in Sao Paulo. I mentioned earlier that Brazil was the only high total available renewable water resource country that made it into my ANBNC club. Here’s a company that is in Brazil, is in water, and meets my own personal growth and fundamental value criteria.

SBS has been growing at double-digit rates for several years, and it’s one of the ways I’ve decided to enter the Brazilian market. The company provides clean water as well as environmental sanitation services such as treating sewage and recycling gray water via its industrial waste treatment facilities. Founded in 1954, the company has grown with the Sao Paulo state of Brazil. The company treats sewage for 26 million people and also handles rainwater drainage and management.

Warren Buffett likes to talk about moats. One thing all water utilities have are very wide moats. SBS, for example, has no competitors. Its growth depends on the growth of the nation, not taking market share from a rival—or worrying about a rival taking its market share. And, unlike the American water utilities, growth in Brazil is extensive, and SBS will continue to grow as Brazil grows. The company enjoys a high free cash flow of some $2 billion a year, as well as high growth. Revenues of $4.9 billion in 2005 increased to $8.6 billion by the end of 2009.

The next World Cup will have games in Sao Paulo. Wanting to project the best image to the rest of the world, I imagine these games will be a huge boost to SBS’s sanitation facilities. Future regional and world events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, will ensure that Brazil takes appropriate steps to improve water quality, sanitation, and many other infrastructure opportunities.

The company sells at one times revenue, a P/E of 7.1, and well below book value, which is over $100. Before I would buy a low-growth, politically constrained American water utility, I’d take a hard look at SBS and other water utilities in developing nations.

Consumer Product Companies

Anticipating a much bigger recession than most, I wrote an article in June 2007 titled “When Environmental Chic Disintegrates.” I noted that the highest-margin business for most beverage companies was not syrupy cola or fine whisky, but bottled water. I found it troubling that in a nation spending itself into a horrible recession, Americans were willing to pay more for bottled water per gallon than they were for gasoline. ($1 for a 16-ounce bottle of water equals $8 per gallon.)

For all we know, that 99-cent bottle of hoity-toity water came out of the tap down the street. It has certainly been shown in many independent tests that most American municipalities’ tap water has fewer pollutants and such than most bottled water.

Yet, on those very rare occasions when I dine at the kinds of places where ordinary mortals like me go only occasionally, and only then for your basic $80 lunch, but where Wall Street movers and shakers and Midtown trust fund babies go every day, I hear something like this:

“Welcome to Tres Snootez. I am Jacques. (I hail from Rapid City and I’m really an actor, not a waiter, and I’m working on my French accent, so) I will be providing you wiz tonight’s delectable meanderings from Chef Michel, who may deign to allow you to say you touched one of his extravagantlee ovairpriced amusees. Would Monsieur care to begin by clearing his palaht with a Perrier from France, a San Pellegrino from Italy, Fiji water from an aquifer deep below Fiji, or Voss, glacial runoff from the Norwegian fjords?”

OK, snootays of the world. I was partly raised in Norway and, yes indeed, they do have some truly marvelous water. I drink it from the streams, and the taps, whenever I am there. I have been to the town of Voss and dined at the Hotel Fleischer, arguably Voss’s most upscale restaurant. And I have never seen a bottle of Voss on the tables. They’ll dust one off if you’re a tourist who asks for it, but the truth is that tap water in Norway tastes exactly the same and has the same chemical composition as the water in a Voss bottle: H₂O and nothing else.

But here’s the even bigger rub: All that fancy imported water has to be transported to Your Town, America. How much does water weigh? About 8.3 pounds per gallon. And how many gallons of carbon-emitting jet fuel or ship’s diesel do you think it takes to transport 8 pounds of water from mountains in Norway to mountains in Colorado? Granted, there are a few truly onerous municipal water systems. Except for these, however, in a chemical analysis and a blind tasting of your favorite bottled water versus tap, tap would win.

I wrote in 2007 that “the environmental chic movement is about to go bipolar. It’s chic to drink bottled water with funny names. But it’s déclassé to increase one’s carbon footprint. Oh my, oh my, what’s a with-it limousine liberal to do?”

I would have thought that common sense and lowered incomes would win out over Madison Avenue making people feel as if they are bumpkins if they drink tap water. So far, I’ve been wrong. Bottled water sales are not up, but they’re bumping along at close to flat. I guess bringing common sense to a battle with advertising-to-people’s-insecurities is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. So I will tell you that the biggest players in selling “special” water to consumers are all names you know well. Coca-Cola (KO) distributes, among others, Dasani. Pepsi-Cola (PEP) distributes, among others, Aquafina (PEP). Danone (DANOY) offers Evian and many others. Nestlé (NSRGY) is the biggest bottled-water purveyor in the world, with Poland Spring and a score of others.

Try as I might, I can’t make an investment case for bottled water. I can make an investment case for every one of the fine companies just listed, but not based on their water business. So buy them if you like, for all the reasons your research would lead you to buy them, and take the water business, with its crazy-high margins, as icing on the cake for as long as it lasts. And if you figure out why people prefer tap water in a blind taste test yet purchase bottled water, drop me a line!

If you’ve been reading only for investment tips, you must be mightily disappointed by now. To make informed investment decisions, I believe we must understand who has the water and who doesn’t. Then I asked you to review The Water Cycle to see how we mimic Mother Nature in remediating bad water or desalinating seawater. Then I tried to warn of at least some of the possibly confiscatory political or—even more dangerous—geopolitical considerations. And now, in the first three investment categories—owners of water rights, water utilities, and those selling special water—I’ve said, with rare exception, that I wouldn’t touch them! Will I ever get to industries and companies within this sector that I believe will do exceedingly well? Yes. Right now.

Companies Involved in Desalination, Water Remediation and Purification, and Infrastructure

Which companies are working to turn saltwater into fresh, clean up our water supplies, help us use less in agriculture and other areas, and prevent loss via transport? With 97.5% of the world’s water composed of saltwater, we might get the biggest bang for our buck in companies in that arena.

But some companies working in the fresh-water world will benefit mightily from their technologies and experience today. Pollution, chemical and oil spills, waste, and fertilizers have exaggerated the health impact caused by the lack of clean drinking water. It’s the same all over the world. In the U.S., agriculture accounts for more than 70% of water pollution, because the pesticides used in agriculture pollute the groundwater. Industrial pollution also contributes to compromised water quality. At least 70,000 different chemicals are used regularly throughout the world, and between 200 and 400 toxic chemicals contaminate the world’s waterways.⁴ This industrial waste, when coupled with agricultural runoff, exacerbates the problem of freshwater pollution.

That’s why wastewater treatment is big business, processing millions of gallons of water while sending tons of the refuse taken from the water to landfills. However, in much of the world, this process is even more necessary and is just getting started! In many nations, 90% or more of all sewage and almost an equal percentage of all industrial waste are discharged into surface waters without any treatment whatsoever!

Therefore, in demand are companies that provide desalination expertise or services to collect, treat, and monitor water; companies that meter and analyze water and wastewater; companies that provide pipes, pumps, generators, and flow-control systems; and companies that provide efficient irrigation and that recycle gray water. This last area is where I find 90% of the great investment opportunities.

I can’t possibly do justice to all these fine companies in the little space remaining. But I can introduce you to them and invite you to research them, as I have done.

First up is TETRA-TECH (TTEK). This company does it all: consulting, engineering, program management, construction, and technical services, all focused on resource management and infrastructure. It is involved in the Big Three going forward: water, the environment, and alternative energy services.

PENTAIR (PNR) has two primary business segments: water and technical products. The Water Group provides products and systems used to move, store, and treat water. (The Technical Products Group is mostly about thermal management, designing standard and custom enclosures for electronics and electrical components.)

ITT Corp. (ITT) is not a pure play but, rather, a conglomerate (sorry—“multi-industry company”) that is in three primary areas. Fluid Technology includes water and wastewater treatment systems, the pumps that make it all work, and related technologies. Motion & Flow Control provides products and services for the defense, aerospace, industrial, transportation, computer, telecommunication, and marine industries. Defense Electronics & Services is a high-tech government contractor that deals with certain electronic systems and components, communications systems, and engineering and applied research. All are on the cusp of what this nation needs going forward.

I must also mention the biggest player in all this, even though it is too diverse, and in fields I believe will restrict its future growth, for me to consider its water subsidiaries as capable of overcoming its shortcomings as an investment. The biggest player in water is also the world’s biggest factor in nuclear power and a host of other industries: GE. Its Water & Process Technologies Division is the world leader in supplying seawater reverse osmosis membrane desalination systems. GE also pioneered brackish water desalination in the early 1950s. This is important to the U.S., where decades of overfertilizing has left much groundwater brackish at best. And, coincidentally, GE is no small shakes in nuclear design and development, as well.

One of the smallest players, in terms of market cap but not in terms of expertise or the size of its projects, is Hyflux (HYFXF in the U.S.; the company is located in business-friendly Singapore). Hyflux is a water treatment company, building a massive desalination plant in Algeria. It’s also a leading environmental company with operations and projects in China, the Middle East, North Africa, and India.

Then there is Lindsay Corp. (LNN). If you drive or fly across America, you’ll see gigantic circular crop irrigators that spew water like huge lawn sprinklers. This is what Lindsay makes: self-propelled center-pivot and lateral-move irrigation systems. These typically move by a computer-controlled mechanism that the farmer can adjust based on rain, elevation, whether the crops are in a gully or on a rise, and a dozen other variables. Basically, these irrigation systems save the farmer money and save all of us water. The company also manufactures and markets infrastructure products, including movable barriers for traffic-lane management, crash cushions, preformed reflective pavement tapes, and other road safety devices. That puts Lindsay in two investing sweet spots.

Veolia Environnement SA (VE) is a big French water services firm, with a large and growing presence in a number of developing markets, and concentrating on China. Veolia has also been targeting the seawater desalination market, setting up operations in North Africa and Middle Eastern countries.

Suez Environnement SA (SZEVY) is another French company primarily engaged in environmental services. The company has two divisions. The Water Division is involved in the treatment and distribution of drinking water and the purification of domestic and industrial water. The Waste Division is involved in waste collection and treatment; recycling; and material, biological, and energy recovery.

Layne Christensen (LAYN) is an interesting drilling and construction company focused on water, mining, and natural gas production. LAYN conducts its business in North and South America, Africa, Australia, and Europe, with three operating segments: Water and Waste Water (76% of 2009 revenues), Mineral Exploration (19%), and Energy (5%). In the water arena, LAYN provides well-drilling services, water and sewer distribution remediation services, and wastewater treatment services. As water management becomes more critical, LAYN’s services to repair in situ (in-the-ground) distribution pipes for both water and sewer become more important. Of special interest right now are treatment facilities for water used in natural gas shale fracking processes.

Energy Recovery Inc. (ERII) is a small-cap company that seeks to make desalination more affordable. ERII products reduce the electricity required to separate freshwater from saltwater using the reverse osmosis method. The huge energy cost of reverse osmosis has historically been almost prohibitive in some areas. Enter ERII. ERII’s primary product is the PX Pressure Exchanger. This rotary positive displacement pump recycles about 98% of the energy used in the pressure requirements of reverse osmosis, reducing overall project energy requirements by 60% or more. I first came across ERII in a geographic area that had absolutely no need for seawater reverse osmosis. ERII provided a product for a pilot project to generate electricity in the fjords of Norway to capture energy generated by mixing freshwater from river runoffs with seawater. It was just too cool a concept not to stir the imagination and for me to research the company further.

The number of Chinese companies that have sprung up to deal with China’s truly horrendous water problems is huge. Here are a few to get you started down that research path if you are so inclined: Tri-Tech Holding (TRIT), China Water Group (CHWG), HollySys (HOLI), and Duoyuan Global Water (DGW). Scores are available to buyers worldwide, and probably hundreds more are available only on Chinese exchanges. My guess is that the Chinese will want to turn to some of the big international firms that have years of expertise in these matters first, and then buy their services and products to copy or reverse-engineer. Therefore, I don’t see the Chinese companies as being as attractive as the others mentioned and the following.

Here are a few more for your consideration: Itron (ITRI), Insituform (INSU), Millipore Corporation (MIL), Gorman-Rupp Co. (GRC), Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI), Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI), Itron, Inc. (ITRI), RWE (RWEOY), Idex (IEX), Flowserve (FLS), Ameron (AMN), Pall Corp (PLL), Dow Chemical (DOW), Watts Water Technologies (WTS), Siemens (SI), Basin Water (BWTR), Mueller Industries, Inc. (MLI), Mueller Water Products (MWA), Danaher (DHR), Calgon Carbon (CCC), Franklin Electronics (FELE), Fluor (FLR), and Nalco Holding Company (NLC)—the largest global player in the industrial water treatment industry.

I believe if you do your due diligence on these companies, and others like them that will inevitably arise, you will find ample rewards in terms of steady, predictable, outsize growth.

ETFs That Try to Cover the “Water” Front

Currently four ETFs invest heavily in many of the companies just mentioned. Among them, if you’re seeking diversification with just one security, you should be able to find a long-term winner.

PowerShares Water Resources (PHO) is the largest water ETF, with $1.5 billion in portfolio holdings. It focuses on U.S. companies, and its largest holding is one of my favorites: Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK). This is an equal-weighted ETF, which means that PHO will have a greater bias toward all market caps—a plus in my book. Other names among its top holdings include giant Veolia Environment (VE), flow control equipment specialists Flowserve (FLS), Watts Water (WTS), and Insituform (INSU), whose core product allows damaged water lines to be repaired in place, without requiring expensive excavation.

PowerShares Global Water Resources (PIO) looks not just in the U.S. but globally. It has thus far focused on companies in the U.S., Canada, Finland, and Switzerland. Its largest holding is also Tetra Tech, but it includes companies I haven’t mentioned previously, such as Finland’s giant wastewater treatment specialists, Kemira Oyj. The U.S. makes up about 30% of its holdings, followed by Japan at 12% and France at 10%. Nearly a quarter of its holdings are in utilities companies. This makes sense, because they are the safest way to play nations that may not enjoy the same transparency as U.S. firms.

Claymore S&P Global Water (CGW) focuses on the U.S., the UK, France, Japan, and Switzerland. Its largest holding is Veolia Environment, but it also holds Switzerland’s Geberit AG, which specializes in water sanitary systems and the transportation of water through piping systems. It holds 25 water utilities and infrastructure companies (water supply, water utilities, wastewater treatment, water, sewer and pipeline construction, water purification, well drilling, and water testing). It also holds 25 water equipment and materials companies (water treatment chemicals, water treatment appliances, pumps and pumping equipment, fluid power pumps and motors, plumbing equipment, totalizing fluid meters, and counting devices). This ETF is also diversified among developed markets: nearly 40% of the fund is in U.S. stocks, with 15% in the UK, 14% in France, and 9% in Japan.

Finally, First Trust ISE Water Index Fund (FIW) focuses primarily on the U.S. Its largest holding is Millipore Corporation (MIL). It is a market cap weighted ETF that also counts Veolia Environment and Nalco Holding Company among its primary holdings.

Conclusion

You have learned about water distribution, how water is purified and regenerated both naturally and artificially, and the political and geopolitical environment in which “water decisions” are made by individuals, corporations, municipalities, nations, and regions. I believe this knowledge will help you make the most informed decisions about how to invest in order to profit from your knowledge of the world’s desperate need for fresh water. I hope the companies and ETFs described in this chapter will whet your appetite for further research and yield the kinds of returns, without undue risk, that are the mark of every truly successful investor.

Endnotes

¹ Mayer, Chris. “Oil Baron Finds New Buried Treasure – But It’s Not Oil.” http://dailyreckoning.com/oil-baron-finds-new-buried-treasure-but-its-not-oil/.

² Mayer, Chris. “A Refreshing Idea,” Daily Wealth. http://www.dailywealth.com/770/A-Refreshing-Idea.

³ Shaefer, Joseph L., “Positioning for When Water Runs Out.” http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/07.09/water2.html.

⁴ “Water Is the New Oil.” http://seekingalpha.com/article/17769-water-is-the-new-oil.