In an arid land city, a rich person can use almost ten times as much water as a poor person. Cities head towards a water shortage should strictly limit water consumption by the rich years before what they would call a "crisis".

Private wells also deplete the same ground water that makes up the last resort for the region. They should be strictly regulated.

By contrast, building private desalinization plants run by renewable energy should be encouraged, because they increase the total water resources available to the region and don't take it away from anyone else.