Jamie Workman, a PERC enviropreneur alum, has an excellent four-part series at IUCN on the paradoxes of water.
1. The paradox of value: “Water is priceless in use yet worthless in exchange.”
2. The paradox of efficiency: “Your water-saving device increases our collective thirst.”
3. The paradox of monopoly: “Thriving urban waterworks must encourage and reward waste.”
4. Resolving the paradoxes: “Forget about virtue, enduring conservation must tap human vice.”
For more from Workman, see this earlier post of his or read his book.