As the old adage, “water water everywhere but ne’er a drop to drink” goes, fresh water on our planet may seem plentiful and abundant, but we are actually facing an imminent water shortage. Thanks to intensive irrigation for agriculture and industry, we move water around just as we do oil and gas, depleting underground aquifers and damming rivers. The former Soviet Union’s notorious Aral Sea–turned into a parched desert when its waters were drained for cotton production–could be a sign of things to come.