How much is a drop of water worth? That was the question posed on Wednesday by the European Union's environment chief as part of his plans to put a price on the liquid, which he said was becoming a scarce commodity.
As part of his strategy paper to prepare for possible droughts across the 27-nation bloc caused by climate change, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas wants water to be treated the same as energy resources such as oil, gas and electricity.
Dimas said he wanted to "move the EU towards a water-efficient and water-saving economy" by invoking a "user pays" principle by 2010.
"The user-pays principle needs to become the rule, regardless of whether the water is taken from a tap, a river or an aquifer. Compulsory metering programmes are thus essential," the paper says.
EU data shows droughts have dramatically increased in number and intensity in the past 30 years, with the cost to the European economy over that period at least 100 billion euros ($138 billion).
A widespread drought in 2003 affected over 100 million people and about a third of the EU land area, costing some 8.7 billion euros.
"Access to water in sufficient quantity is fundamental to the daily lives of human beings and many economic activities. The major impacts of water scarcity and droughts are expected to be made worse by climate change," Dimas said in a statement.
On average 20 percent of water used is wasted across the EU each year and the figure is set to double in coming years, the EU executive said.
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Wednesday's paper advocates a need to put a price on water and estimate its worth to the EU economy. It proposes a pricing system that gives an incentive to consumers and businesses to economise water.
