Personally, I was quite interested in it, I spent 10 minutes reading it before I realised how long the article was. Clearly others are interested too, as it's on HN. But who actually read it all the way through? Did you?

I read the whole thing. It was interesting, but not linear, and definitely not dense. But it's The Atlantic, not a daily paper.

It was more of a leisurely interesting-but-not-actionable, flavor-of-the-story, Sunday-paper-with-a-bagel read. I wouldn't even call it long-form journalism. It's just bits of history and human interest tied to a current issue with a sprinkling of character and anecdote. Gratifying, not edifying.

That sort of thing has a place, but generally not what I'm looking for on a Wednesday morning.

Did you know that Central Valley almond crop irrigation consumes water equal to 1/2 of a Los Angeles?

I didn't read it. Like I said, I'm not that interested in the situation (I'm not near the U.S. West coast...).

But I think you are wrong about the length being a matter of ego stroking. There are legitimate reasons to dive into the details, and given that the Atlantic is relatively internet savvy, there are probably people interested in the content.