I could readily say that we ...

I could readily say that we don't value our water. If we do, how could you possibly explain the way we treat our water resources. On a more serious note, this is a difficult question to answer. Standard economic/monetary tools are not totally adequate to value water. This is where new tools and methodologies need to be developed that can take into consideration the tangibles as well as the intangibles, such as ecosystem services and recreational values that water provides.