The Problems with Cheap Water

The sun shines over the dry upper reaches of San Gabriel Reservoir on Jan. 22, 2014. Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record.

Parts of the western United States continue to wither under an unprecedented drought and state officials are imposing drastic conservation measures. But there has been a reluctance to address one of the major drivers of water consumption: its low price. Eduardo Porter wrote about about the problem in "The Risks of Cheap Water" earlier this month in the New York Times.