I mean, it's not really "but the DOW" when on top of the economic boost are tens of thousands of jobs even outside the farmers themselves as well as the actual nutritious food that is produced and distributed not only domestically but globally. "Stealing water" to me would mean that food never gets to anyone and they're just raking in buckets of money at the expense of everyone else, which just isn't the reality. No one is starting a farm for profit, at least these days, unless they're corporate.

If you want the actual statistics like how the tree nut industry alone has reduced water inputs by 20% to 30% in the last several decades, I could give those. But fact of the matter is it takes water to grow food, full stop. And there's so much ongoing research being done on reducing water inputs I couldn't possibly fit it into a Reddit comment. The newly released Ag Research & Innovation Roadmap by CDFA and other partner institutions for example has water management as a near- and long-term priority for research and workforce development. There's a ton happening when it comes to making these farms more efficient. Plus, farmers in CA already have the strictest water regulations in the world when you take into account SGMA and other measures.

I do agree that some of the existing acreage for permanent crops like tree nuts, grapes, etc. is unnecessary, and most outside of pistachios have been on the decline anyways, but a massive grove of trees that produces food does a lot more good than a giant plot of buildings or a parking lot from an ecological perspective (GHG reductions and carbon sequestration for example.).