That UI is atrocious, the article is unreadable like that. Firefox reader-view saves the day!
The actual issue here is that those families are growing food for other food, which is very inefficient.
Sixteen of the top Imperial Valley families mostly use their water to grow hay, which accounts for an estimated 685,000 acre-feet a year. That’s more than four times the amount that goes to the 1.4 million people served by San Diego’s water district.
And what makes it even worse, is that they are exporting the hay around the world.