> If you just raise the prices, there's no guarantee it would actually lower water usage enough to help. Sure it will. If water costs these farmers $1,000,000

> If you just raise the prices, there's no guarantee it would actually lower water usage enough to help. Sure it will. If water costs these farmers $1,000,000/gallon, they would use 0% of what they do now, since nobody would buy a $4MM avocado. That's absurd, but it does demonstrate that there is a price for water that will lower its usage. The goal should be to price water such that enough is left downstream for personal consumption. Doing so will raise prices on agricultural goods, which will decrease demand, also lowering water consumption.