Make 'em pay market rates for water. The problem will self-correct. They’ll sell the almonds they can at the cost they can.
Let the magic of the market work. For once.
Worth a read if you’re interested the topic of water in the west: Cadillac Desert
You make good points.
Of course the whole point of “water rights” is claiming that you already own the water; and woe betide anyone upstream of you that diverts your water! So expecting anyone with legacy rights to pay what the market currently bears for water would require a broad abolition of previous promises and entitlements.
Screw the Trump supporting Kulaks in the Central Valley…
Without getting into the merits or demerits of California farmers, you do know that the Kulaks are considered victims of fanatical totalitarianism?
Mankind making promises for eternity to be fulfilled by Nature, not by man, is a risky business. We now know enough not to do that. Not to say we won’t anyway, but we ought to know better.
How we correct for previous mistakes made in honest ignorance is, as you say, a fraught business. But it will be done. When the amount of water promised greatly exceeds the amount of water Nature makes available, something will give.