I seriously hope you're being sarcastic. People with that sort of attitude are becoming part of a huge problem where I live (Colorado). You can not treat water like that and expect to not have huge problems; the front range here is perhaps beyond sustainable use for our watershed, yet people insist on watering their lawns as though it's nothing. That sort of short sighted and self-centered behavior is sort of disgusting.
Used to? Do you not have plenty of water now? That would surprise me. Unless you're talking about one specific urban area, in which case it would still surprise me but not as much.
Nearly all of BC goes into automatic water restrictions every summer now because of shortages and drought. Stricter regulations are imposed depending on the local conditions. Much of southern BC has gone to stage 3-4 restrictions this summer. It's not one urban area, it's big cities and small towns all over.
Our reservoirs are also chronically below target levels and several farmers have had their crops ruined because of it.
The watershed where Nestle gets its water (Hope) is currently in stage 4. It's completely banned to water any lawn, field, park area, etc. Any non-hand watering of a garden is also completely banned.
Water is plentiful in many places. Where I come from, you can't dig a hole in your yard deeper than about one foot, because it'll fill in with water. I guess you just don't like the facts.
Separately, you aren't going to make much progress with people if you go around appealing to vague and abstract principles in a way that is disconnected from their values.
