Protect groundwater and less pollution in India.
KA writes: In developing countries which there is a constant struggle between farmers and utilities over water allocation, most of implemented policies are based on punishment.
For example, quotas are assigned to each farmer and if he goes over his quota he will face a sort of a punishment.
I strongly believe unless we find a mechanism in which people make money by saving water, no other effort matters.
In my last trip to India, I learned of such a mechanism to protect groundwater.
Tushaar Shah (of IWMI-TATA and a well-known figure in the energy and water sector of India) has started a pilot in Gujarat called SPaRC.
He is giving farmers solar power system to operate their pumps.
The farmer can sell his extra power to the grid and make money.
A farmer can either operate his pump or sell the power to grid; as he expected now farmers participating in the program are voluntarily practicing water saving methods because the solar power they sell to the grid for money is also power NOT used to pump water.
Read more about the projects in this and this PDF.

A $99 case of bottled water?
A hotel reportedly charged guests more than twice the normal rate.
One business sold bottles of water for a staggering $99 per case — more than 10 times some of the prices seen online.
As of Wednesday morning, the state attorney general’s office had received 684 consumer complaints, a majority of which involved price-gouging of bottled water, fuel, groceries and other necessities.
A Houston convenience store charged $20 a gallon, she said.
Meanwhile, some businesses sold water bottles for $8.50 each and cases for $99, Lovvorn said.
“These are things you can’t do in Texas,” Paxton told CNBC on Tuesday.
The company said that a few store employees decided to sell cases of bottled water even though Best Buy does not sell them by case.
At a Best Western location in Robstown, about 20 miles west of Corpus Christi, 40 guests were reportedly charged far above the normal rate.
The Texas attorney general’s office is urging people to report possible cases of scamming and price-gouging by calling 800-621-0508 or emailing consumeremergency@oag.texas.gov.

HELPING HOUSTON: Southwest Georgia Bottled Water Drive.
Flint Media is currently collecting cases of bottled water to deliver to the Houston area for Hurricane Harvey relief.
The water will be delivered next week by semi truck.
Anyone wishing to donate can contact Dustin Dowdy at 229-416-6259 or by calling the radio station at 229-246-7776.
You can also drop the water off at the radio station (521 S Scott Street in Bainbridge) between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day this week.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast as the largest storm to hit the state in 50 years and has caused the most catastrophic flooding event in Texas history, dropping more than 4 feet of rain, with more to come.
With more than 30,000 people displaced, the Houston community will certainly need our help.
As of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, more than 700 cases of water had been donated to the Flint Media Hurricane Harvey Relief Effort.

HARVEY HELP: Guyton man seeking bottled water donations.
James Shaw is the founder of Wish to Walk, a foundation helping veterans and citizens who are disabled.
Shaw was born in San Antonio and considers Texas home.
After viewing the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey, he said he had to do something to help.
“Because I went through Matthew myself and with my family that was only a Category 2 and this was a Category 4 that slammed into them and these people are without everything,” Shaw said.
Shaw recently purchased a trailer for work but decided he needed to use it now to help transfer supplies to storm survivors.
He plans to leave with a team as soon as the trailer is filled to capacity.
Currently Shaw is working with potential local partners to host drop-off sites.
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Best Buy says $42.96 bottled water near Houston was a big mistake.
A nearly $43 case of water on sale at a Best Buy outside storm-ravaged Houston was a "big mistake,” according to the retailer, even as the incident sparked a social media backlash and shone a spotlight on price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Best Buy spokesman Jeffrey Shelman apologized in a statement for what he said was an error made by a local employee who added up the cost of each individual bottle of water to come up with the price for the entire case.
"This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday,” Shelman said.
"We’re sorry and it won’t happen again.”
The office of the Texas State Attorney General said that as of Wednesday morning, it had received 684 complaints about excessive pricing.
Such acts can lead to a $20,000 fine, or a penalty of up to $250,000 if the victim is at least 65 years old.
The state attorney general has so far notified nine alleged offenders that they have violated the law, and what fines they could face if they don’t stop the gouging.
"Price gouging is not only reprehensible, it’s illegal.’’ Texas Gov.
“if you’re a business, you could be put out of business.”

LeBleu Bottled Water in Davie County sending thousands of bottles to Texas after destruction of Harvey.
ADVANCE, N.C. — LeBleu Bottled Water packaged 48,000 bottles Tuesday for flood victims in Texas.
"For us we saw a need," said Wes Cromer with Le Bleu.
"We had the opportunity to help and said what can we do so we are trucking down as much water as we can today."
The company is filling two tractor-trailer loads with Truliant Credit Union carrying one of the truck loads.
"We’ve got a relief organization down there called Hearts with Hands," said Cromer.
"They are out of Asheville and so we’ve partnered with them."
This isn’t the first time the company has helped, most recently helping Hurricane Matthew victims in eastern North Carolina.
TM & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company.
All rights reserved.

Texas stores gouging prices during Harvey: Gas for $20 per gallon, bottled water for $99.
As thousands of Texans flee the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, hundreds of businesses have reportedly been caught jacking up prices on evacuees.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told CNBC this week that his office received more than 500 complaints of price gouging over the weekend alone.
One convenience store in Houston was selling gas for $20 per gallon, Paxton’s office told the automotive news website Jalopnik on Tuesday.
One hotel located about 20 miles from Corpus Christi tripled its room rates after the storm made landfall, according to KXAN-TV.
The hotel was charging $321.89 a night for a room with two queen beds that was listed at between $120 and $149 a night before Harvey hit.
The TV station’s investigation into that hotel’s price gouging led the business to give refunds to 40 guests after Paxton’s office found out what they were doing.
Clint Davis is a reporter for the Scripps National Desk.
Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.
Keep up to date with the latest news by following @ScrippsNational on Twitter.

This Diwali, Patanjali Is Launching Divya Jal, Bottled Water Sourced From Foothills Of Himalayas.
Tijarawala on Wednesday said the goal is to provide a healthy and economically priced product that can be accessed by every class of society.
As everyone has their own standard of living.
It will have multiple packaging," Tijarawala told ANI over the phone.
He added that the product will also be supplied in large quantities at marriages and other formal ceremonies.
It is a matter of credibility.
Every possible measure will be taken to curb the environmental pollution.
Safety of environment is our priority," he asserted.
Packaged Himalayan drinking water is about to be the latest entrant in the ever-increasing list of products launched by yoga guru Ramdev’s ‘Patanjali’ Ayurveda Limited.
With rapid expansion in the product range, Patanjali will also begin sale of branded apparel under the brand name Paridhan from April 2018.

From Breinigsville to Texas: Nestle donates bottled water to aid those affected by Harvey.
Nestle Waters North America, the third largest non-alcoholic beverage company by volume in the United States, is coming to the aid of those affected by Tropical Storm Harvey — an effort that includes the company’s Breinigsville campus.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Nestle Waters said it is actively donating truckloads of bottled water to help those directly affected in Texas and Louisiana.
So far, Nestle Waters has sent 26 truckloads, carrying a total of over 1.1 million bottles of water, to aid local residents.
Nestle Waters spokesman Christopher Rieck said one of those truckloads, containing 49,242 bottles of Nestle Pure Life water, came from Nestle Waters’ Breinigsville campus, where about 500 people work across two bottling facilities.
Rieck said the truck left last week and was delivered Friday (Aug. 25) in the Houston area.
To get the bottled water where it is needed, Nestle Waters said it works with Americares, the American Red Cross, Gleaning for the World, Convoy of Hope and Feeding America.
Recipients of the bottled water include The Salvation Army, first responders and local food banks.
“We will continue to assist our partners as needed in the days ahead,” Nestle Waters said.
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The Martinsville Police Department wants to spread the word that it is serving as this area’s collection point for water donations for Texas.
Harvey made landfall Friday as a Category 4 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm and setting a preliminary continental U.S. rainfall record.
He added: “We all have seen on the news the horrible damage that has occurred in southeast Texas.
Their recovery will be long and difficult.
Some of our officers sought what they could do to help.
So we contacted God’s Pit Crew and arranged to bring them the bottled water we collect for them to deliver to the areas that need it the most.” “Generally speaking a case of bottled water is cheap and readily available in our area but to the people of Southeast Texas over the next several weeks that bottle water is priceless and can be a lifesaver.
So we will be accepting donations of bottled water at the police department,” Fincher said.
Donors may bring bottled water to the Martinsville Police Department Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and every little bit helps, Fincher said.
“We are fortunate to live in a very caring community and we hope to show that to the people of Southeast Texas.” The Associated Press reported Tuesday that that four deaths had been confirmed in Texas, but unconfirmed reports of others missing or presumed dead were growing.
Rains in Cedar Bayou, near Mont Belvieu, Texas, reached 51.88 inches, a record for the continental United States.