It could be simply solved by selling water usage rights or incentivizing saving water wherever the river runs. This was done with success in some parts of the US.
It necessitates growth in the collective consciousness of humanity, similar to how addicts cannot give up their addictions without growing as people.
*edit
If you require farmers to pay full price for the water they consume, they will never be able to afford it.
There are plenty of ways to manage water rights so that you have a reasonable amount of farming and other uses also get to exist.
Doesn’t mean capitalism is wrong in this case, though.
Edit:
Wes it does, in this case. This is not some software startup. The water, which ostensibly belongs to all, is the input to this wealth.
Plus, that's a stupid use of water that should not be rewarded.
Original below ----------------
of course it does. It's "captialism" and we must bow down before it and not question any of the inputs to the money being made.
In other words: let the cotton farmers get stuck with paying for the water, and the business will simply dry up, and the water will be used for economically sound purposes.