[samatman]

That water grows 77% of all almonds, worldwide.

Is there some better use for roughly 15% of California's water consumption?

Are you sure?

[zdragnar]

Yes, leave it in the ground. It isn't a renewable resource on any relevant time scale.

If you want almonds, grow them elsewhere, or switch to desalination.

[samatman]

If "grow them elsewhere" were plausible, California wouldn't be growing 77% of them.

[AngryData]

They can also grow almonds where it actually rains and requires little to no irrigation. Just because destructive exploitation of natural resources makes producing almonds 5% cheaper, that doesn't mean it is the only way or place to grow almonds.