Emma Burke uses the figurative language, "Water was now more precious than gold." What does she mean by this? How do you know?

She means that people needed water more than they needed gold so it was more valuable.

Explanation:

I know this because if you look at history's worst droughts, even the purest, brightest, richest gold couldn't get you water, because it had dried out. In those times, even a sponge with a drop of water was critical.