[michaelt]

I have read [1] (in an admittedly rather dated book) that many states in America use water bills to subsidise farmers.

Long ago, large landowners noticed you can build a big water project with a state bond issue, use 80% of the water for agriculture, then charge homeowners 50x as much as you charge farmers to pay off the bond.

Then a few years later you declare there's a water shortage, ban restaurants from bringing customers water without them asking, and ask voters to support another bond issue.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Desert