Water shortages and pollution could result in big profits for foreign investors in the water industry, as they make a move to clean up Thirty years ago, UN experts sounded the alarm bells when they warned that a water crisis would follow hot on the heels of the oil crisis. In China, two scenarios exist. Water shortages and pollution could result in big profits for foreign investors in the water industry, as they make a move to clean up Thirty years ago, UN experts sounded the alarm bells when they warned that a water crisis would follow hot on the heels of the oil crisis. In China, two scenarios exist.