Fresh water will be the next oil in terms of governing our economies of the future. A few decades ago I thought for sure that we would have run out of oil by now, or almost. And even though we haven't yet, we are in the last throws of the oil age, regardless of desperate fracking efforts and attempts to get to the Alaska oil reserves. Our energy needs will eventually be met with renewable energies.
More worrisome than the oil situation is the water situation. With climate change we are getting too much of it in some areas, to the point of coastal areas and islands becoming submerged and diluvian rain storms, and too little in others. On the one hand sea levels are rising due to melting glaciers and polar ice caps, while other areas are becoming more prone to temporary droughts, as we have seen in California for the past years, and downright desertification. In the US our fresh water tables have sunk to half the 1960s levels, due to agricultural and economic activity.
Ocean water desalination will become the new hot ticket in terms of investments and developments. The Middle East is currently leading with over 50% of the world's desalination capacity. While you won't need to curtail your shower time anywhere soon the price of produce is likely to go up, and the mix of your investment portfolio could change. Oil is out, water is in.