The issue with water is not new. It is the marketing behind the cause that is new. People are finally paying attention.

However, one should maintain a fair amount of concern with this subject. 300,000 Trademarks amounts to an unwieldy pile of flotsam that is a clear indication of “greenwashing”. There have been articles published (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1840562,00.html) about it and news casts (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/eco.carbonquestions2/index.html) about it. But, basically, there are relatively few trademarks, copyrights, seals, logos, or any other branding that actually involve any oversight or regulations of any sort. Most, in substance, are totally meaningless.

TerraChoice conducted a study in 2007. The survey teams identified 1,753 environmental claims made by a total of 1,018 different products. All but one of the products made false or misleading claims about their environmental friendliness or practices. That’s 99% greenwashing.
Read more: http://www.terrachoice.com

Also – A web-2 user supported site to track and rate corporate greenwashing: http://www.greenwashingindex.com/

I would also further John’s comments above with my personal view that, when it comes to the private sector, corporations are only concerned with their bottom line. Corporations don’t care about the law, or public opinion, or morality, or stewardship, or you. They only care about these things so far as it affects their profits, and by proxy, their share holders. That’s it. They are only obligated to do or not do anything if it makes them money.

As for water and air, in some respects, your correct. The environmental movement has roots dating back to the 1950′s and began with concern for air and water pollution. However, with greater understanding has come the realization of greater complexities. Particularly with regard to water, concerns have gone far beyond shore based pollution. Water pollution is still a very real concern. There is currently a area floating debris in the north pacific, nicknamed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas. And its not alone. There are others in other oceans. There are deadzones caused by agricultural fertilizers in bodies of water all over the world. the largest is in the Gulf o Mexico. Waters are polluted with pharmaceuticals, mercury, and perchlorate (rocket fuel component), as well. Stemming from global warming, tourism, and bottom trawling, coral reefs (the rain forests of the ocean) around the world are dying. Wild fisheries are being fished to collapse. Fish farms are overloaded with antibiotics and organic pollutants. Many rivers are dammed and or drained for energy and agricultural uses, disrupting ecosystmes. Most years, the Rio Grande doesn’t even reach the ocean any longer. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water. 2.3 Billion people suffer from water–borne diseases each year. While the demand for water is on the rise, the supply is shrinking. Global policies from institutions such as the World Bank have left little room for local decisions and instead forced privatization of water on poor countries.
Food and Water Water has some great information on water issues: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water The Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and GreenPeace also maintain great programs on this.

It’s important to remember that the Earth’s surface is approximately 70% water. Of that, only about 2.5% is fresh water. And only about 1/3 of that is available for drinking water and irrigation. It’s also important to note that climate change is causing the oceans to rise and weather to destabilize, affecting communities around the world. Some areas are seeing increased flooding while others, droughts. Nearly every dessert on Earth is growing. Environmental concerns regarding water, for very critical reasons, is accelerating to be the number one focus of the environmental movement.

As for branding green versus blue, my thought is that blue is simply the next logical color choice in an effort to refresh the environmental movement. People quickly burnout on topics. As sustainability gains more traction and get more coverage in the media, people grow tired of hearing about it. Thus, the concepts need to be repackaged to progress the cause.