To Steve Maxwell, there are four critical underlying and recurring themes that may resolve our pressing water problems. One is to balance our resource trade-offs. Maxwell states that it essential to find the best minimization of, in this case, our water and carbon footprints. Essentially, the question lies, what is a unit of water worth versus a unit of energy versus an avoided bit of carbon into the atmosphere? Secondly, Maxwell pushes to think about water consumption in terms of virtual water, the total amount of water that is required to produce the goods and services we buy or that is required by the behaviors in which we engage. With this, the efficiency of water consumption where it is the scarcest must be evaluated. Thirdly, Maxwell suggests it is necessary to develop holistic approaches to water. Rather than seeing water in separate categories, such as groundwater, drinking water, and wastewater, we need to see that these waters are interconnected and can all affect energy supply, air pollution and urban development. Therefore, water policies should be consistent to help treat all water industries as possible reusable water locations. Lastly, Maxwell states we must prepare for the rise of water prices. Water is significantly underpriced, leaving no economic incentive to conserve it or use it wisely. Once water is priced accurately, there will be a greater reliance on water re-use, recovery, monitoring and analyzing to manage it more efficiently.

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