I talk with my friend who works in water law a lot about this, and he always comes to basically the same conclusion as this. Almonds and pistachios are a huge waste of water. The problem is that farmer's water rights are constitutionally protected (California constitution). You need a super majority in the California senate to do anything about it, and that's not going to happen anytime soon.
IMO I think we should tax the heck out of pistachio and almonds and just make them unprofitable to sell.
IMO I think we should tax the heck out of pistachio and almonds and just make them unprofitable to sell.