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Water is increasingly high on international and national agendas. Recent assessments show that the conventional focus on supply of water to users, without attention to how water is used or wastewater disposed, has led to serious degradation of water and environmental quality. "Hydrocide" is impending; the life-giving qualities of water are obstructed. Impairment to human health, destabilization of ecosystems, and repercussions on the economy are widely experienced. The challenge to avert hydrocide is significant. Investments required to deal with water-quality degradation are, on average, ten times higher, or more, compared to expenditures on structures for water supply. Financial requirements, and a tendency to see water services as free, and without reciprocal responsibility for the users, lead to heavy pressures on public budgets and policy makers. To avert hydrocide, a water ethic needs to be introduced together with incentives and sanctions for proper and responsible use of water.