You misunderstand. It seems clear that iLoch views this as a fundamentally different use of water than, say, watering your lawn, since he emphasizes the gone

You misunderstand. It seems clear that iLoch views this as a fundamentally different use of water than, say, watering your lawn, since he emphasizes the gone-ness but doesn't mention the magnitude of the usage. The point is that this use of water is no different than any other one-time use of fresh water. (We'll be farming for 30-50 years too, thereby depleting the ground water.)