And face it, the world suffers overall resource scarcity, and shortages of any critical commodity (like water) translate into scarcity of them all.

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's attitude toward plants that have been genetically improved to conserve water--a commodity which is, of course, critical for agriculture--is illustrative.

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The conversation is always water is a human right and should be given to everyone free, or water is a scarce commodity and should be fully privatized, when, in truth, we have a world in which 1.3 billion people have no access to safe drinking water.

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Virtual water is a term used for the water involved in producing a commodity or a service.

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Water is not the only commodity in short supply, said Andrea Sartori, head of KPMG's golf advisory business.

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"We all recognize that water has become more and more of a precious commodity, " said Tom Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee.

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Gold, though, is a vote against economic optimism, a hunker-down commodity that ideologically belongs beside guns, canned tuna and bottles of water in the basement.

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While the facility would only operate at full capacity for 12 hours a day, the technology is designed to work without water, which is often used in cooling systems for solar thermal plants and is a precious commodity in Arizona.

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