Exporting Alaska's water: Alaska is home to 40 percent of the U.S.'s fresh water supply. Could it be the state's next most-valuable resource?

• Author: Swagel, Will

Futurists tell us that fresh drinking water - because of scarcity and pollution - may be the oil of the 21st century. If so, Alaska, with its endless lakes, rainy watersheds and glacier-fed streams, could become a big player in the world water business. At least that's the driving passion behind a handful of entrepreneurs scattered throughout the state who want to be up and running when the taps open big time.

Gil Serrano is just such an entrepreneur. In 1990, Serrano penned a movie script where the lust for water set off international intrigue, leading to the brink of armed conflict. Hollywood passed on the story. But the same year - 1990 - Serrano also established Purely Alaskan Water Inc., which has grown to be the leading drinking water bottled in Alaska.

Because water is so vital to life, I think it'll be an incredible resource that will be protected and coveted by other people who don't have enough," says Serrano. "I'm not surprised at the statement I read in the paper the other day ... where wars could be fought over water."

Wasilla's Fountain

At Purely Alaskan's wellspring in Wasilla, 1,250 gallons of pure artesian water gush up each minute. The spring supplies the company's premium product - the kind that goes into the 1.5 liter and small sports bottles you see athletes toting. Purely Alaskan, like many companies, also sells a product line of purified tap water that comes in gallon jugs. But it's the artesian stuff the company hangs its hat on.

"Our water - the aquifer - is surrounded by 1.4 million acres of land with 7,000 acres of glaciers that all feed this aquifer," Serrano says. "We have such a good source in the (Matanuska) Valley that we actually track our water into Anchorage to have it bottled because we want to use our specific, unique source.

The company uses its pristine image - and the scope of its statewide distribution (the company sells in Carts, Costco and Mapco) - to back its claim of being the best-selling drinking water in the state.

"Purely Alaskan really wanted to establish a strong Alaskan base," says Serrano. "We've done that now, so we're moving to the Outside. When we're in Texas or California ... we say 'This is the number one selling water in Alaska.'"

While popularity with Alaska's 600,000 residents may be a selling point, export is the theater for growth. Back in 1990, when Serrano was working on his movie idea, he was also trying to engineer a plan to ship water from Panama to California in the empty...