Large-scale and long-term over-consumption of surface water and groundwater can gradually cause large areas of land to dry with gradual expansion of drought zones. Impacts of climate change, e.g. global warming, make such “irreversible” process to be even faster. Sustainable  management of water resources has to take in consideration the increasing competition on the uses of water in agriculture, industry and household sectors. In order to achieve sustainable socio-economic developments both natural and human-made impacts have to be taken in consideration. In this context “business as usual” for traditional industrial uses, such as the production of bottled water, has to be replaces, or at least supplemented by, more sustainable approaches for better conservation of water resources including the mitigation of the negative impacts of climate change. Private and public sectors have to work hand in hand to bring about long-term and large-scale sustainable socio-economic developments where uses in different sectors have to be weighted and balanced against each other and with consideration to natural effects.

http://m.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/bottled-water-california-drought