[jacobolus]

If water used in agriculture – including water sucked out of aquifers from wells – were appropriately priced, (a) water-intensive crops would move to places where water was more abundant, and (b) ways would be found to reduce water use.

Growing e.g. alfalfa, rice, cotton, or almonds in California (not to mention beef/dairy production) happens partly because water for agriculture is artificially cheap, not reflecting its true costs.

[njarboe]

I agree with you about alfalfa, rice, and cotton, but the central valley has the best conditions in the world for growing almonds. About 50% of the worlds production comes from there.

[jacobolus]

In that case, almond farmers should still pay closer to the true cost of the water. This would likely slightly raise world almond prices but it would encourage farmers to find ways to reduce water use, without fundamentally compromising the industry.