California had a similar issue after a 7-year drought. People were seriously asking whether it was wise to plant rice, alfalfa, and almonds when water was scarce. But any effort to change was met with resistance.

Also, the arcane laws around water rights and priorities didn’t help. A lot of farmers sank their own wells, only to see them run dry when larger or corporate farmers nearby sank even bigger wells. There was a lot of subsidence in Central Valley. Water was getting diverted away from rivers which was leading to closed fishing seasons. Major reservoirs were at 100-year lows.

The only saving grace was a couple of severe el niño seasons refilling the lakes and reservoirs and it all was forgotten. Nobody tried to solve the root causes. We’re now heading into water from the Colorado River running low and California’s allocation getting cut. In the last drought we didn’t have that problem. Now we do.

The next drought, we’ll be in the same boat as this article. Or worse.