In the Mexican border region with the USA, clean drinking water is so scarce that mothers give their babies Coca-Cola and Pepsi to drink. The problem of water scarcity is directly affecting more and more people and is spreading rapidly across the globe. 'Blue gold' is soon to rival oil in its significance as a raw material. Even today, many so-called ethnic or religious conflicts are rooted in struggles over the use of scarce water resources. The causes of water scarcity are diverse: industrial agriculture, deforested areas, dams, pollution, and waste. However, the core of the problem remains the same: the water cycle is disrupted, and water sources can no longer regenerate. Neither state control nor privatization can alleviate the situation. The solution lies in a return to traditional, communal systems of water management that have functioned for centuries in many regions, until they were sacrificed to progress or the greed of the powerful.