Scarcity and shortage are the same for water as they are for other
goods — except that most goods are traded in markets in which rising
and falling prices balance supply and demand to prevent shortages.
Consider gasoline. People demand it for their cars and gas stations
supply it, but those everyday facts obscure the complexity of a supply
chain that brings oil from halfway around the world to billion-dollar
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reneries that feed a distribution system that always seems to have
enough gas for you and me. The supply chain for water is shorter and
simpler, but it is more likely to experience shortages.