Unfortunately, in the past when there were ample water resources and a lot fewer people, it was very profitable to grow things in the CA desert like cotton that need lots of water. Today, the restrictions should be done with a free market price. Cotton growers should be responding to the higher market price of water by switching to crops that don't require as much water but have similar end use, like hemp. That would be a productive process. Instead CA has politicians exchanging favors and looting in the process.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsW9MlYu31g