Marc Reisner quotes:

Water flows uphill towards money.

I believe that anyone who flies in an airplane and doesn't spend most of his time looking out the window wastes his money.

If surface water can be compared with interest income, and non-renewable groundwater with capital, then much of the West was living mainly on interest income. California was milking interest and capital in about equal proportion. The plains states, however, were devouring capital as a gang of spendthrift heirs might squander a great capitalist's fortune.