[Someone]

"Changes to individual use will only have a small impact on our water use"

Every single farmer can argue the same way ("I only use a tiny fraction of what the state as a whole uses, so it won't help" or "almond farming only uses 10% (I'm making up this number), so it won't help if we, almond farmers, economize on water use")

Everybody can find a group they are in that will have a small impact.

[ghshephard]

The difference between residential and agricultural use, is that the price each pays for water is different enough that we are starting to see arbitrage, in which agricultural water rights are being sold for residential use. If the drought continues, we could start to see a large-scale decline in lower-value agriculture in California, particularly anything that is water intensive. We're unlikely to see a decline in the residential population of California because of water.

[seanflyon]

The point is that the vast majority of the water is used by a small minority of the people.

[lisper]

But that small minority uses that water to produce food, which is used by everyone.