[rootusrootus]

> almonds and pistachios, highly profitable crops that require ridiculous amounts of water

I thought that was a bit overblown, that there are several common crops worse than almonds? Such as alfalfa, if I'm remembering correctly.

[lazide]

The Antelope Valley Aquifer in California has had thousands of feet of ground water depleted growing Alfalfa. It’s part of the Mojave Desert.

There used to be artesian springs over much of it, now the ground water is over 2500 feet below ground, and starting to be widely contaminated with arsenic.

It’s pretty mind blowing, frankly. This was generally all done via wells sunk on private property.

There has been ongoing litigation to get this under control for several decades that is starting to finally result in action.

[LargoLasskhyfv]

https://medium.californiasun.co/san-joaquin-valley-californi... <- second picture with the large pole and the signs on it is... impressive/instructive?

[lazide]

Yup - though different, larger acquifer.

[rootusrootus]

It seems like the way we handle water rights has to change.