Most of the problem goes away if you can get market pricing for agricultural usage. That would incentivize not focusing on high-water crops like almonds or alfa

Most of the problem goes away if you can get market pricing for agricultural usage. That would incentivize not focusing on high-water crops like almonds or alfalfa animal fodder but it’s politically challenging due to all of the conflicting water claims based on supply levels which are not compatible with the current values. You’d need to do something like an eminent domain claim on water rights in some cases going back to the Spanish era, and since it splits almost exactly down party lines you have to plan for extended delays or a SCOTUS decision that they don’t have the power to do so.