Water politics is nothing new in CA, and people vs agriculture has always been at the heart of the issue. LA in particular created a giant mess because it was desert.. getting water in was what made the sprawling so-cal possible.

Nuts are disproportionate but right now they're all tapping into finite underground resources vs relying on rainfall. Being able to get to that underground water means market prices don't reflect the issue here. Of course china being part of the huge demand of almonds would probably only increase their consumption if prices went up because it would be seen even more as a luxury than is justified.

It's going to get even crazier over the years, and desalination is too extreme for the amount of water that agriculture uses.