The astronauts survived by rationing water and food while using the lunar lander as a lifeboat before returning to the command module for re-entry to Earth.
VOA: standard.2010.04.04
Economists would generally argue that price is the right way (although with caveats, pure price allocation of drinking water in a drought might raise hackles) to do that rationing.
Kathmandu's residents have learned to live with much more deprivation than fuel rationing--four- to eight-hour power outages daily and an acute shortage of drinking water.