Water from space

--- In spacesettlers, cygonaut wrote:

> Because of shrunken areas remaining undetected, even if ice is found
> in these yet unknowns' darkest of the darkest of crater walls, it
> will not be enough for any long term moon projects or envisioned
> moon colonies.

This brings up a question: how much water is needed?

> Dependency on water supplied from other sources is therefore
> unavoidable.

Depends on what you want to do. For instance, suppose that there are
ten tons of water. That's it: ten tons. Well, you could support
quite a moonbase with ten tons of water, though a full-blown "colony"
of many thousands wouldn't be able to get by with that.

> How long will taxpayers tolerate such a curious predicament?

Considering the scale of current lunar operations, I'd say not long,
as in not at all.