Hoping that a campaign by the water charity Green Cross International would successfully lead to international law making clean water a human right, Fiona Harvey examines here the major drivers of future water shortages, and, for sure, global warming is one of them. But she also remarks that many of the natural features that are essential to the water cycle are damaged by poor people needing to make a living. She suggests that local people be paid to maintain the landscapes in order to protect water supplies. The true cost of maintaining supplies would then be reflected in higher water bills. The author proposes also to explore low-tech solutions to increase our water supply at a reasonable cost.